Nedap Turns Smartphone Into Security Badge
Nedap Identification Systems, which sells technology to enable long-range identification, wireless vehicle detection and access control, is launching a new product that enables the use of smartphones as virtual access cards. The platform, known as Mobile Access Control Entities (MACE), consists of readers, apps and a cloud-based server. An individual’s virtual credentials are stored in a MACE app on a user’s phone, and are delivered to a reader via Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC) or QR code technology. Once received, the credentials are compared against a database maintained on the cloud-based server.
The MACE app will be available for both Apple iPhone and Android operating systems. Nedap plans to debut the system at the International Fire and Security Exhibition and Conference, being held next week in London.
Apple Makes HomeKit News at WWDC
At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference this week, Apple made a number of announcements regarding HomeKit, its smart home hub. The company is releasing a new app, called Home, as part of its next mobile operating system, iOS 10, in the fall. Home will allow users to control all of their HomeKit-compatible devices via a single app running on an iPhone or iPad.
Apple also announced that both the August Doorbell Cam (a security camera integrated into a doorbell) and the next generation of Kuna security products for the home (which integrate a security camera into a exterior light) will connect to the HomeKit via a user’s Wi-Fi network.
In addition, Apple announced that it is working with three homebuilding companies, KB Home, Brookfield Residential and Lennar, to allow builders to pre-install HomeKit support into a building’s light bulbs and appliances, so long as those products are HomeKit-certified.
Allure, Thinaire Collaborating on IoT Services for Digital Signage
Allure, a provider of interactive digital signage using image-capture technology, installed in retail environments, arena and entertainment complexes, and Thinaire, which sells a range of proximity and mobile technologies based on a smartphone-engagement platform, announced plans this week to combine their products and services. Allure is building support for Thinaire’s mobile-engagement platform into its animated digital posters and experiential displays, to support dynamic mobile advertising and experience-based marketing campaigns for ad agencies, media companies and theater owners. The companies say they are beginning to roll out the technology in movie theater lobbies throughout North America.
The displays will support both Near Field Communication (NFC) tags and Bluetooth beacons in order to wirelessly connect to consumers’ mobile devices when within range of the displays and running the appropriate applications. Advertisers and marketers can monitor and analyze consumers’ responses in the vicinity of their displays at one or more locations, providing maximum impact for their campaigns.
Marken, Green Cross, Collaborate on Supply Chain Technology
Marken, a provider of supply chain and logistics services for the life-sciences industry, has forged a partnership with Green Cross LabCell, a Korean biotechnology firm, through which the companies will combine their respective logistics and control systems for shipping biological specimens and diagnostic tools.
Green Cross LabCell, which developed an immune-cell therapy that is currently in phase-two clinical trials, as well as stem cell therapy services, is attaching RFID tags to individual vials of drugs used in those trials. The ID number encoded to each tag is associated with a patient’s data, such as his or her name and blood type, as well as a reference to the clinical study in which that patient is involved. Marken sells a tracking system used to monitor shipments and ensure that they are kept within safe environmental conditions, per safety regulations. The battery-powered sensor, called Sentry, contains a GPS module as well sensors that track temperature, shock, light exposure (to deduce whether a box has been opened during transit) and atmospheric pressure levels.
Through the terms of the partnership, Green Cross LabCell and Marken will link the vial-level RFID data with real-time location and environmental tracking, enabled by the Sentry, in each firm’s respective technology platforms. The goal, the company reports, is to use these combined technologies to allow Green Cross to extend its services to clients outside Korea via Marken.
Exosite Announces New, Improved IoT Platform
Exosite, a Minneapolis-based provider of cloud services designed to enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to integrate IoT connectivity and applications into their products, has released a new Internet of Things platform known as Murano,. The platform features a new streamlined infrastructure designed to better assist OEMs in designing and deploying connected devices, starting at the firmware level, up to managing and servicing consumers when they purchase connected devices. Specifically, Murano hosts both static application files and custom application programming interfaces (APIs). This means OEMs can now have their complete application stack hosted with Exosite, while Exosite’s technical support team can offer assistance 24 hours a day.
With Murano, Exosite is also introducing advanced security features that, according to the company, go beyond basic protections against man-in-the-middle and spoofing attacks. “Murano includes features whereby information is routed [between the device and our cloud-based platform] with an identifier associated with it,” says Paul Anderson, Exosite’s VP of software product, in order to ensure that only authorized services or applications consume that information.
Murano is now generally available for purchase on a monthly subscription basis. Interested customers can evaluate the product through a free trial.
New Industrial IoT Products From Honeywell
As part of its industrial IoT product offerings, Honeywell this week made two product announcements.
The company launched an analytics platform called the Uniformance Suite, which includes four products: Uniformance OHD, which collects process and event data from manufacturing systems; Uniformance Asset Sentinel, to assess the health and performance of manufacturing equipment; Uniformance KPI, to compare business metrics against targets in order to improve decision making and enhance productivity; and Uniformance Insight, a visualization tool designed to help users increase productivity and reduce the amount of time spent investigating performance or productivity issues. The software suite is cloud-based and accessible from any web browser on an end user’s network.
For the natural gas industry, Honeywell also announced a natural gas measurement and data-management solution. Billed as an end-to-end smart metering solution for Honeywell’s North American gas transmission and distribution customers, it comprises five Honeywell components: the EC 350 PTZ gas volume corrector, the Elster rotary gas meter, the Cloud Link 4G low-power wireless modem (which connects to the volume corrector and includes a Bluetooth Low Energy radio for onsite wireless connectivity), the MasterLink configuration and calibration software, and the PowerSpring meter data-management software.
More IoT News from RFID Journal:
• Bluvision and Airside Mobile Enable New Airport Features for Android Users
• MicroStrategy’s Usher Platform Can Locate, Track Personnel
• T.A.P. Tag Technologies NFC-enables RealTimeRental’s App