This article was originally published by RFID Update.
August 23, 2005—IDG News Service reports that Microsoft is in Taiwan marketing an RFID track-and-trace solution for postal services. Using components from Texas Instruments, among others, the system allows the postal service, package sender, and package recipient to all track a tagged parcel as it moves from the point of shipment to the point of delivery. Unlike existing bar code systems used by consumer delivery services such as UPS and FedEx, which only indicate when a parcel has arrived at a particular node in the delivery route, the Microsoft system offers far more granular visibility. Additionally, it provides delivery time estimates and MSN Messenger or SMS notifications to the sender upon package delivery.
Microsoft is showcasing the system at the 18th Asian International Stamp Exhibition in Taipei. Taiwan’s Chungwa Post Co. is the event’s key sponsor, according to the Taipei Times, and the organization on whom Microsoft has set its sights. “Microsoft paid some sponsorship for this show because we’d like to provide this technology to Taiwan’s post office,” said Dragon Shyy, a consultant at the domestic Microsoft Technology Center. There is no word yet on whether Chungwa Post will buy.
Of course, Taiwan’s postal service isn’t the only one Microsoft is targeting. According to Shyy, “Most postal services worldwide are trying to adopt this [type of] technology.” IDG reports that the company has held preliminary talks with the Indian postal service, which might consider RFID track-and-trace technology for its premium SpeedPost service.
Read the article from IDG News Service