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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Ubisense is the world leader in Precise Real Time Location Systems, tracking unlimited numbers of people and objects in any space of any size. With unmatched 15cm 3D tracking accuracy and high reliability, its acclaimed open standards technology platform gives enterprises the power to bring visibility and control to previously intractable business processes. Together Ubisense consulting and its partners, such as IBM, Atlas Copco, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon deliver geospatial and RTLS systems, pioneering innovation whilst reducing costs, gaining competitive advantage and improving safety for companies across all vertical markets. With over 400 customers worldwide including BMW, Caterpillar, DHL, Duke Energy, Deutsche Telekom, US Army; Ubisense is revolutionising industries today

MARKETWIRE via COMTEX: CAMBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM, Aug 28, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- "The introduction of the IBM/Ubisense system has resulted in accident prevention and overall employee safety improvement as well as adding to POSCO's reputation for innovation by leveraging UWB technology in a first-of-its-kind solution", comments Han Ku Park, project manager at POSCO in Pohang. "All the project objectives have been met on time and within the planned budget. The project team of IBM, POSCO and Ubisense have created the first of its kind in Korea and probably in Asia.
"The Korean version of Ubisense will allow us to satisfy the enormous demand we have witnessed since first introducing the product to research institutes in 2006", says HB Choi, General Manager, Ubisense Korea. "We already have deployments in 25 organisations and with immediate availability of a fully compliant product we will be able to satisfy the enormous pent-up demand we have seen from the Industrial and Manufacturing Market".
Korean Manufacturers include some of the highest volume automotive plants in the world, so the timing of the availability of Ubisense, already with a worldwide reputation at reducing costs and improving productivity for leading companies such as BMW, Honda and Caterpillar is pertinent, says, Simon Holloway of Manufacturing Consultancy, Bloor Associates.

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Market Wire: CHARLOTTE, NC and WILMINGTON, DE, Aug 27 (MARKET WIRE)
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Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS), a subsidiary of Consulier Engineering, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSLR), today announced that Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE has selected the company's Amelior Tracker(R) system to automatically track and manage the hospital's assets throughout their two facilities. Christiana Care is one of the mid-Atlantic region's largest not-for-profit healthcare providers including Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware, and Wilmington Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Together, the hospitals have over 1,100 licensed hospital beds, support over 42,000 surgical procedures and admit more than 55,000 patients annually. Christiana Care will integrate the Awarepoint Real-time Location System (RTLS) to provide automatic location data capture to the Amelior Tracker end-user software. Awarepoint serves its U.S. healthcare customers through its exclusive distribution partnership with Skytron. Christiana Care has been a workflow automation partner with PCTS since 2004. Throughout the last five years, Christiana Care has implemented Amelior EDTracker(R) in both Christiana Hospital and Wilmington Hospital. The software's impact has allowed the combined emergency departments (ED) with over 160,000 ED visits a year, to achieve 100% real-time location of patients, as well as decrease wait time and increase patient and staff satisfaction.

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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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Brian Albright, Integrated Solutions magazine: Hospitals utilize thousands of pieces of expensive equipment, much of it highly mobile, while treating patients. Locating those assets in a timely fashion can be a challenge, particularly in larger facilities where tracking down diagnostic equipment, IV pumps, or even something as basic as a wheelchair or table can sometimes take hours — throwing schedules into disarray for both medical staff and patients. The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center, a 500-bed, 1.2 million-square-foot facility, solved its asset tracking problems with a real-time location system (RTLS) that has improved asset utilization and eliminated lengthy searches for missing equipment. "We spent a lot of time looking for equipment," says Jim Barnes, manager of OR support services at UCSF. "We have a huge OR with no central storage location of any sort. It was difficult to track things down when we needed them, and we'd have very expensive equipment just disappear for weeks at a time."

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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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Irish Press Releases:
DecaWave (www.decawave.com), a leading Dublin based fabless semiconductor company, has shipped the first 5 evaluation kits of its groundbreaking product ScenSor chip to technology firms in the US, Germany, France, Israel and Korea. The kits enable trusted partners and customers of DecaWave to analyse the potential of ScenSor and see how their technology can benefit from the dramatically increased location precision and reduced power consumption ScenSor technology delivers.
ScenSor which was launched September 2008 has a wide range of applications for both Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) and Ultra Low Power Wireless Transceivers in areas as diverse as manufacturing, healthcare, lighting, security, transport, inventory and supply chain management. ScenSor’s extremely low power (200 times less transmit power and 20 times less receive power than competing technologies) over a 70m range allows it to be deployed in industrial/process environments and remain unattended for many years. For RTLS applications, the technology delivers location precision that is orders of magnitude more precise than existing technologies (+/- 10cm vs. +/- 5m).
“Today’s shipping announcement is a significant company milestone for DecaWave” says Ciaran Connell, CEO DecaWave. “We are delighted with industry interest in ScenSor - since it was announced last September we have attracted expressions of interest from 245 technology companies worldwide, and we are on course to deliver a further 5 evaluation kits in the coming weeks, fulfilling our business plan commitments,” he says.
DecaWave is privately funded, and is supported by Enterprise Ireland.

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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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Mind Commerce LLC: With research beginning in 2008, this unique report addresses core technology and business aspects of real-time location services (RTLS) and guides the reader through the most important aspects of enabling technologies including RFID. It covers the critical factors and gives the user the views about the different kinds of RFIDs. The report also addresses the advantages and the bottlenecks for deployment of RTLS applications, evaluating available solutions and the methodologies. The report includes an exhaustive study of leading RTLS companies.
Different types of RTLS are evaluated and the standards and protocols related to them. The report has a great focus on the applications and the key areas that can be addressed by RTLS giving special attention to Vehicle Tracking, Port/Yard Management, Inventory Management and Real Time Tracking solutions. The report also provides an analysis of the most widely used RTLS applications today and provides a vision for anticipated future applications

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