The following are news announcements made during the past week.
HID Global Expands Its Smart-Card Portfolio
HID Global has announced its new Crescendo C1150 smart-card suite, designed to work across a range of converged logical- and physical-access applications. The C1150 smart cards can be used for two-factor authentication for PC login, HID Global reports, as well as for accessing virtual private networks (VPNs), creating public/private key infrastructure (PKI)-based digital signatures, generating one-time passwords (OTPs) and enhancing data protection. It also supports a variety of physical access requirements. The smart cards can be utilized as standalone cards without a card-management system, and are available in quantities as small as 25. The cards come preloaded with a default configuration that has been tested across a range of logical-access applications, including Microsoft products (through interoperability with the Microsoft-approved Minidriver smart-card specification) as well as HID’s 4TRESS authentication server, naviGO card lifecycle-management software and ActivClient security client software. For physical access, the Crescendo C11500 card’s integrated single- or multi-technology RFID interface addresses the majority of current deployments, according to HID Global. The cards support both high-frequency (HF) technologies—such as HID Global’s iCLASS, as well as NXP Semiconductors‘ MIFARE and DESFire—and low-frequency (LF) technologies. Available now, the cards can be produced using all direct-image or thermal-transfer printers, or by utilizing HID Global’s Secure Identity Services, which enable organizations to outsource large-volume badging and reissuance projects with card-customization options. “Combining logical and physical access on one credential improves user convenience while increasing security and reducing deployment and operational costs,” said Helmut Dansachmueller, HID Global’s senior director of product marketing, in a prepared statement. “Our new Crescendo C1150 offering leverages state-of-the-art smart card chip and RFID technologies to deliver these benefits in a single solution. This latest addition to the Crescendo smart card family also includes a lifetime warranty, reinforcing our Genuine HID value proposition to continually support our customers with a growing range of innovative products that are part of the industry’s broadest line of trusted, full interoperable secure identity solutions.”
ZeitControl Announces RFID Label With Integrated Microprocessor
ZeitControl cardsystems GmbH has unveiled an RFID label with an integrated microprocessor. The label combines ZeitControl’s BasicCard—a smart card programmable in the BASIC programming language—and 13.56 MHz RFID technology. According to ZeitControl, the combination is designed to enable the development of more secure RFID labels. Using the BasicCard development environment, organizations can create highly secure applications within a few hours, using the BASIC programming language to build even DES-encrypted tasks. The label is available in a variety of shapes, the company reports, and is easy to attach to nearly all surfaces. This transponder is compatible with the ISO 14443A standard, and comes with 16 kilobytes of electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). The label can also function as a Near Field Communication (NFC) label, ZeitControl reports. In addition, the company is offering development kits for the label, designed to make it easier for organizations to develop solutions.
New $95 Million Library in the United Kingdom Features RFID
A new public library—the Hive, a U.K. partnership project between Worcestershire County Council and the University of Worcester—is leveraging radio frequency identification solutions provided by Bibliotheca, a developer and supplier of technologies designed to enhance library efficiency and the user experience. The library, officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen, is a state-of-the-art, £60 million ($95.2 million) library combining a public library authority and an academic institution library, as well as an archive and archaeology service and more. It contains more than a quarter of a million books, and houses 12 miles of archive collections and 800 study stations. Bibliotheca was selected to provide RFID hardware, tags and services for the deployment. The Hive chose the company’s products so as to employ RFID during the issuing, returning and sorting of books and media, Bibliotheca explains. The firm offers RFID systems that operate at 13.56 MHz and comply with the ISO 15693 standard. The RFID products enable self-service practices for library users, enabling library workers to better concentrate on higher-priority tasks, become more efficient and focus on customer service. Bibliotheca’s products installed at the Hive include the 300 series Automated Materials Handling system, with nine sortation bins, two internal return points, and a single external return point for item return and sortation. There are also seven white 400 series kiosks that utilize RFID to read library user cards and are equipped with payment stations that also accept chip and pin smart-card payments. The library is using three of Bibliotecha’s dual-aisle smartgate 300 security gates to detect item status (for example, whether an item was properly checked out) at its entrance, as well as smartgate manager software running on employees’ workstations to monitor the gates and security statistics. Finally, the library is using 10 smartstation RFID solutions to assist staff members with such administrative activities as tagging assets or issuing, renewing or returning items for library users.
SAG Announces RFID-enabled Disposable Writsband for Security, Access Control and More
Securitag Assembly Group (SAG), an RFID transponder solution company headquartered in Taiwan, has launched a new RFID-enabled Disposable Wristband that is delivered in a reel format, which SAG says makes it an economical choice for temporary applications. The Disposable Wristband leverages SAG’s high-frequency (HF) 13.56 MHz Mifare UltraLight chip, which complies with the ISO 14443A standard. The wristband measures 276 millimeters (10.9 inches) in length, 34 millimeters (1.3 inches) in width and 0.28 millimeter (0.01 inch) thick, and weighs 1.8 grams (0.06 ounce). It is supplied with an additional fastening button for one-time closure, in order to prevent unauthorized transfer during usage. According to SAG, the Disposable Wristband is suitable for use at sporting events, amusement centers, clubs, festivals and exhibitions, providing security, access control, ticketing and event management.