Mass High Tech: Tego Inc., a maker of smart radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, has landed $1.16 million in a planned $3 million second round of venture capital funding from returning and unnamed new investors, according to regulatory documents.

The Waltham-based startup makes an RFID tag that is able to hold information in a small amount of memory, similar to a powered active RFID tag but requires no battery power and therefore can be made as small as an unpowered passive tag. Tego says its batteryless RFID tags are capable of holding up to 32 kilobytes of memory for up to 20 years without an additional power source.

Timothy Butler, CEO of Tego, said that the new funds, which he characterized as a bridge round to a possible Series B financing, will be used to launch the company’s first product into the marketplace. And more money should be forthcoming in this Bridge, he said.

“We are expecting additional add-on rounds in the near future as well,” Butler said. “We’ve been very careful and very frugal with our money up to now. We are not sure if we need a B round, but we are positioning ourselves to meet those needs.”

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ADVANCE: Sonitor Technologies, Inc., a developer, manufacturer and supplier of ultrasound indoor positioning systems (IPS) and real-time location systems, released a single-use, outer shell-cased active ultrasound wristband tag.

The Tag, named P-Tag, weighing less than an ounce and measuring 1.4 x 1.5 x 0.7 inches, is a small battery-powered wireless device, attached by snapping the shell onto any standard patient wristband, or similar band or lanyard. Protected against possible infectious contamination by the disposable outer shell, the core is designed for repeated use without the need for cleaning. The P-Tag transmits a unique identification code using ultrasound in the frequency range of 35 to 45 kHz at configurable transmission intervals. A Sonitor IPS Detector (microphone) receives and transfers the Tag ID code to a server, leveraging the hospital's wired or wireless LAN, which stores the Tag's location and the time-stamp information in its database. The tracking information can then be accessed by users on computers, tablet PCs, PDAs and mobile phones using application software solutions from third-party software applications.

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MARKETWIRE via COMTEX: SAN DIEGO, CA, Aug 31, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Awarepoint Corporation, a provider of ZigBee-based real-time location system (RTLS) solutions to the healthcare market, today announced that Edward J. Zander has joined the company's board of directors. Zander has spent more than 35 years in the technology sector. He has played a key role in shaping some of the major paradigm shifts in technology that impact the world today. These include the move from mainframes to minicomputers; minicomputers to workstations; PCs to networking and to the Internet; hardware to software; and the revolution in wireless devices and mobility.

Zander was most recently chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Motorola. During his tenure, he sharpened Motorola's edge in technology innovation; delivered on 12 consecutive quarters of revenue growth; streamlined the business to increase operating efficiencies worldwide; significantly improved the balance sheet and acquired and divested businesses to strengthen the company's competitive position.

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ZDNet: Computer scientists in Japan have developed a way to break the WPA encryption system used in wireless routers in just one minute.
The attack, which reads encrypted traffic sent between computers and certain types of routers that use the WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption system, was devised by Toshihiro Ohigashi of Hiroshima University and Masakatu Morii of Kobe University.
The scientists plan to discuss further details at a technical conference on Sept. 25 in Hiroshima.
Security researchers first showed how WPA could be broken last November, but the researchers have accelerated theory into practice, taking the proven 15-minute “Becks-Tews method” developed by researchers Martin Beck and Erik Tews and speeding it up to just 60 seconds.
Both attacks work only on WPA systems that use the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) algorithm, and do not work on newer WPA 2 devices or on WPA systems that use the stronger Advanced Encryption Standard, or AES, algorithm.

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RFID Journal: Aug. 25, 2009—Ultra-wideband (UWB) RFID technology could advance video game development and special effects in the motion picture industry, by allowing companies to capture real-time motion information from several actors at once. This is being made possible thanks to Xsens Technologies, a Netherlands-based firm that designs three-dimensional tracking applications.
Xsens has incorporated UWB real-time location technology from Time Domain to advance its full-body cameraless motion-capture system. The new tracking application, dubbed MVN, aims to make it easier for companies such as Electronic Arts, Industrial Light and Magic, Sony Pictures Imageworks, THQ and other video game and entertainment industry firms to digitally reproduce realistic movements of actors.

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Wi-Fi Planet: Skyhook Wireless, known for its Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) and its hybrid positioning system (XPS), continues to quietly expand its user base. The company announced Tuesday a partnership with Geodelic, developer of the new Android mobile application, Sherpa.
Sherpa, which allows users to locate relevant information based on behavior recognition, a recommendation engine, and location-relevant information, was developed specifically for T-Mobile's myTouch 3G with Google. The app teaches itself what its owner likes based on behavior and user feedback, so it can prioritize the retailers, restaurants, and attractions it recommends. Geodelic also allows businesses (or brands) to create customized mobile content, such as promotions tied to their locations.
“Skyhook offers a major enhancement to the application’s location awareness,” said Rahul Sonnad, CEO and founder at Geodelic in a Skyhook press release Tuesday. “This allows Geodelic to more accurately target content for a user, whether they are in a mall or walking down the street. We developed Sherpa to give users a customized experience based on their location and interests. Skyhook provides the location performance that our application demands.”

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the RTLS blog: GRAIL was designed to localize using any wireless network that supports physical layer measurements of packet data. Some properties we have used include the received signal strength indicator (RSSI), Angle-of-Arrival (AoA), and time-of-arrival (TOA). http://grailrtls.sourceforge.net/

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Energy Harvesting Journal: Following the inaugural awards at Energy Harvesting Europe, IDTechEx will launch the Energy Harvesting USA Awards in Denver at the co-located Energy Harvesting, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and RTLS conferences. These awards will recognise company development and success for all energy harvesting technologies and applications including the highly pertinent WSN and RTLS fields. The awards dinner will be held on 3 November, as part of the Energy Harvesting and Wireless Sensor Networks & RTLS Summit.
The Awards are hosted by IDTechEx, a leader in providing independent global research and analysis on the development and application of energy harvesting and storage, WSN and RTLS.
You can enter one or more of the following categories:
Best Technology Development of Energy Harvesting
This award will be given to a company which has launched a new product based on energy harvesting (in the last 24 months, November 2007 - November 2009) and is in the process of bringing it to market. The category will be assessed on the technical development of the product, its potential market, and benefits it brings over alternatives.
Best Application of Energy Harvesting
This is the award given to an actual commercial success with an end-product using energy harvesting (in the last 24 months, November 2007 - November 2009). Judges will look for success in terms of products sold and revenues generated.
Best Technology Development for RTLS/WSN
This award will be given to a company which has launched a new product based on RTLS or WSN technology (in the last 24 months, November 2007 - November 2009) and is in the process of bringing it to market. The category will be assessed on the technical development of the product, its potential market, and benefits it brings over alternatives.
Best Application of RTLS/WSN
This award is given to the best implementation of RTLS or WSN. In particular, judges are looking to see the payback from the system, how problems were overcome (if any), and benefits to the user. Accepted awards submissions will receive a free dinner ticket to the Awards Dinner* - visit www.IDTechEx.com/ehAwards to find out how to apply.
If you would like your company to be recognised for outstanding achievements please contact: Raghu Das, CEO or Sarah Lee, Event Manager

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PR WEB:
RFID Solutions Aimed At Increasing Visibility, Compliance Verification And Reduction Of Liabilities For Enterprise Clients.
Sparks. MD (PRWEB) August 17, 2009 -- AiRISTA, a U.S.-based provider of leading-edge auto-id, visibility & track and trace solutions (www.AiRISTA.com) announced the availability of its new and enhanced partner program in U.S and abroad. According to Sy Sajjad, CEO of AiRISTA, this new streamlined program was designed to encourage, benefit and empower mid-sized and smaller business partners all over the globe in addition to the company's traditional large system integrator partners. AiRISTA's most comprehensive and technology-agnostic solutions offer tremendous growth potential and business opportunities to our partners. AiRISTA continues to rely on the sales, service and the technical expertise of its partners to satisfy a wide range of customer needs both in U.S and internationally.
Frank Shirmo, AiRISTA's COO, adds that this new program introduces three levels of partnership designations and is structured to offer Partners with the maximum level of support based on their contribution, commitment, markets served and location of business. The addition of our latest international Platinum Partner, (our highest designation for a partner), ATNET Corporation Pty Ltd within the past few weeks in Sydney, Australia, speaks to the business value offered by this program.
Our philosophy is to never underestimate the importance of investing in innovative solutions that will improve our ability to understand, anticipate and address our customers' needs, said Tony Stefanovski, CEO of ATNET Corporation. AiRISTA is a strong partner that meets our customer's requirements for high-quality end-to-end RTLS, RFID solutions. It is my expectation that our solutions will strengthen the market positioning for both of our companies greatly.
Deployment of AiRISTA's personnel tracking solutions is planned for several of our enterprise customers within the next few weeks in Australia.

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Measurement Devices: Guangzhou / Guangzhou, China -- DAILY RFID has recently upgraded its UHF Long range RFID reader, Model DL910, to enhance the user experience and durablility, with promotion price price at $780USD.
It offers a long read range of up to 15m basing on different RFID tags.
This globally-compliant, high performance UHF reader, compliant with ISO 18000-6C(EPC Gen 2) & ISO 18000-6B standards, is ideal for installation in outdoor and industrial environments.
It is an autonomous reader that can be triggered automatically to read the tags with high identification accuracy even in a multi-reader environment.
For ease of use, the UHF Long range reader is designed with a unique keyhole bracket design and mounting bracket at the back to simplify mounting on counters.
It also has multi port interfaces such as RS232, RS485, Wiegand, TIP/IP.
The Model DL910 has an impressive read range of 8m - 15m based on different RFID tags.
The Long range RFID Reader DL910 has a variety of configuration options and can cater for the demand of rapid flowing asset tracking with compliant rate up to 100 km/h.
As a result, it is suitable for use in vehicle access control, warehouse management, process automation where tags are to be read and written to at fast moving speeds.
Please visit www.rfid-in-china.com/products_702_1.html or contact DAILY RFID for more infomation about it, Their wide variety of RFID Tags and other accessories

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