Network World: Trapeze has a released an enhanced version of its wireless location-tracking appliance, now incorporating what had been a separate firewall product.

Besides the patented RF Firewall product, the new LA-200E Location Appliance also now tracks signals from 802.11n radios and doubles the number of Wi-Fi devices it can monitor, to 4,000 including Trapeze asset-tracking tags.

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Utility Products: Cooper Power Systems, a division of Cooper Industries, Ltd. (NYSE: CBE) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with AT&T, to jointly market and sell to utility companies smart grid sensor devices that are certified on AT&T's wireless data network. Utilities can now receive real-time system performance data to efficiently operate their electrical grids, reduce the need for on-site inspections, and identify and solve problems that could cause outages or increase system energy losses.

"Our nation's utilities are under intense pressure to provide the latest technologies to their customers in a cost effective way," stated Cooper Power Systems group president, Mike Stoessl. "This agreement brings together Cooper Power Systems and AT&T, each of which is committed to leading the advancement of smart grid technology. Working together we will be able to help utilities streamline the way in which they gather the critical information they need to better serve their customers."

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Globes Israel's Business Arena: AeroScout has recently completed a $13 million internal fund raising round. $7 million was raised from the company's existing investors, and a further $6 million in the form of a venture loan. This is in addition to $10 million raised by the company at the beginning of the year. The company, which was founded a decade ago, has so far raised a total of $70 million, including the current round. Investors in AeroScout include VC firms Pitango, Greylock, Star, and Menlo Ventures, and also Intel and Cisco. The company was founded a decade ago, and is now near profitability.

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PR WEB: Unique convergence of active RFID and IP Video provides complementary security to healthcare institutions and patients and industrial asset tracking.

Vancouver, BC (PRWEB) June 27, 2009 -- Guard RFID Solutions Inc., announced today that its next generation Active RFID platform and its software applications, such as its TotGuard™ Infant Security solution, can integrate closed circuit television (CCTV) where increased security is required.

Vice President of Sales Beth Bandi explains, "Security and Access control systems are enhanced by presenting a live video stream from a CCTV camera placed at the location associated with an alarm or warning event within a system, as well as providing video images of activity in that location immediately prior to the event." Continuing, she said, "Instantaneous visibility of such activity allows staff to immediately respond to the event, saving precious time. All such video streams are captured and archived for subsequent review, if ever required."

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PR WEB: Vestac LLC of Brick, New Jersey announced today the general availability of the industry's first FCC approved, multi-modal Wi-Fi and Infrared (IR) Real Time Locationing System (RTLS). This unique, patent-pending RFID capability combines high accuracy Wi-Fi positioning algorithms and IR's inherent lower cost "choke point" tracking.

Brick, NJ (PRWEB) June 25, 2009 -- Vestac LLC of Brick, New Jersey announced today the general availability of the industry's first FCC approved, multi-modal Wi-Fi and Infrared (IR) Real Time Locationing System (RTLS). This unique, patent-pending RFID capability combines high accuracy Wi-Fi positioning algorithms and IR's inherent lower cost "choke point" tracking. Coupled with long battery life Vestac provides for a flexible, easy to deploy positioning solution for the lowest total cost of ownership. The system has already received advance orders from several large enterprises for tracking people, inventory, and equipment.

The 220Bi tag and 330Xi battery-operated IR transmitter support simultaneous tracking through Wi-Fi and IR, and overcoming the limits of traditional RFID tags. This allows for a low-cost deployment and delivers a high level of accuracy even in areas with relatively sparse Wi-Fi coverage. The 220Bi tags can be worn by personnel or affixed to assets and are available in several form factors, which can be customized to specific requirements. The 220Bi and the 330Xi transmitter form a unique "Deploy and Go" architecture which requires no additional network modifications or expensive wiring.

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MoreRFID: Reva Systems, the leading RFID infrastructure provider, announced the introduction of TAP-VM, a software-based virtual machine version of the Reva TAP appliance. The TAP-VM virtual appliance runs on any hardware that supports the VMware Server 2 platform.

The Reva TAP-VM is fully compatible with the existing family of Reva TAP appliances and provides identical functionality. The TAP-VM software alternative gives customers the flexibility to deploy on hardware platforms of their choice, ranging from small laptops to the largest blade servers.

"Beyond RFID applications that utilize Reva's TAP hardware, we have seen growing demand for adding TAP capabilities to customers' existing servers and other platforms," said Ashley Stephenson, Reva Systems chairman and co-founder. "By allowing Reva's award-winning functionality to be delivered as a virtual appliance, we have given our customers and partners the ability to integrate Reva's RFID capabilities onto hardware solutions of their choice."

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Intelligent InSites: Fargo, ND – June 19, 2009 – Last week, the World Health Organization declared the H1N1 virus, also commonly referred to as “swine flu”, a worldwide pandemic. National and state health officials in the U.S. are urging healthcare providers to take precautions to limit the spread of the virus from infected patients to healthy patients and staff.

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Cnet Asia: Navigating the crowded maze halls of CommunicaAsia out at the Singapore Expo isn't for the faint-hearted, but this is also where the A*Star Ultra-Wideband (UWB) localization system comes into the picture. Hailed by the Singapore research institute as an indoor GPS, this system has an amazing accuracy of up to 10cm. Unlike other comparable solutions, the proof-of-concept prototype requires only a single UWB reader and a tag which is really a battery-powered radio transmitter in disguise. The system currently has an effective range of 15m and uses range and angle-of-arrival information to track objects.

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RFID update: A family-owned mussel business in Galicia, Spain, has teamed with researchers at the University of Vigo to test RFID for tracking mussel cultivation. The mussel company, Concepción Suárez Fernández, collaborated with the Systems Engineering and Automation Department at the university to design a system that uses passive RFID tags to identify the ropes that the mussels grow on. "The lack of IT in this industry has been a problem for a long time," says Jorge Nuñez, one of the owners of Concepción Suárez Fernández. "We need to know exactly what was on the mussel beds, how long they had been there, and we need to be able to forecast growth so we can plan our sales.

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Center for Democracy & Technology:

1) Government ID Card Programs Raise Privacy Concerns

2) REAL ID and Enhanced Driver’s Licenses Exemplify Concerns

3) Proposed PASS ID Act Offers Much-Needed Improvements

4) Protecting Privacy Will Require Additional Reforms

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