RFID Readers: Alien Technology Expands RFID Leadership With Introduction Of Three New Products To Its Portfolio Of EPC Gen 2 Readers
Alien Technology, an industry leader in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) products and services, today announced the expansion of its leading portfolio of EPC Gen 2 RFID readers with the introduction of three new RFID products. The new readers are expected to be particularly well received in industries such as consumer packaged goods, retail, manufacturing, transportation, airports and cargo logistics, government and defense industries, and more.
"With the new portfolio of EPC Gen 2 readers, Alien and its channel partners can meet market needs requiring diverse combinations of performance, price and form factor for a variety of demanding applications," said Scot Stelter, Alien's director of product marketing. "The new reader portfolio helps our partners serve customers in existing and emerging segments with a wider variety of performance and price points."
ALR-9900 Enterprise
The ALR-9900 is a mono-static, dense-reader mode, enterprise-class reader for demanding manufacturing, asset management and supply chain applications. The ALR-9900 builds upon the success of the Alien ALR-9800 by improving read rates and deployability, while retaining industry-leading software compatibility. Enhanced sensitivity and increased interference rejection ensure higher read rates in noisy environments. A 50% reduction in footprint and 4 monostatic antenna ports support easier deployment and a wider variety of applications. Backward compatible support for the Alien Reader Protocol ensures rapid compatibility with many existing RFID software products. Designed to operate within the 902-928 MHz band, the ALR-9900 is immediately available for use in the Americas, and will be available for use in Asia and Europe in early 2008. The ALR-9900 has a list price of $2199.00.
ALR-9650 Smart Antenna
The ALR-9650 is a smart antenna-class, quick-start RFID solution for in-building asset- and item-level tracking, and is an ideal solution for single and two-antenna applications. With its integrated antenna, Power-Over Ethernet (POE) and out-of-the-box software compatibility, the ALR-9650 Gen 2 RFID Reader is a simple, low-profile solution for a variety of applications. The ALR-9650 takes up little space. At only 9 inches square it uses less than half the real estate of a typical reader and antenna system. The ALR-9650 easily fits into a variety of tight spaces and enables neat and tidy placement when it is visible to consumers or the general public. Compatible with the Alien Reader Protocol, the ALR-9650 will enjoy support from a wide variety of existing RFID software products. The ALR-9650 has list price of $1099.00 with availability in December.
ALR-9824 Portal
The ALR-9824 builds upon the success of the ALX-9010 series of portal appliances to provide a complete and easy-to-install dock-door portal solution in a durable casing. The portal is powered by the leading ALR-9800 Gen 2 RFID reader with four high-gain antennas included. The portal family includes the EPC Gen 2 Dense Reader Mode certified ALR-9800 and includes single-sided, double-sided and extended height options. The ALX-9010 series include: ALR-9812, ALR-9814, ALR-9822 and the new ALR-9824. The ALX-9010 portal family is immediately available and has a starting list price of $4747.00.
The Alien reader portfolio is backwards compatible with existing Alien readers. Alien network-ready EPC RFID readers use the widely-supported Alien Reader Protocol, with reader software support including BizTalk Server 2006 R2, IBM WebSphere 6.0, Oat Systems, Oracle, GlobeRanger, and many others. Proven support for SAP through third-party middleware is also available. A well-documented SDK featuring .NET and Java libraries enables easy and custom interfaces to control the reader as required.
Alien's portfolio of RFID readers and tags are supported through Alien Technology's global network of more than 200 authorized distributors, Value Added Resellers (VAR), independent software vendors (ISV), converters and Alliance partners. Alien readers and tag products have earned designation as Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technologies under the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act of 2002 for airports baggage and cargo handling systems.
For more information about the new reader portfolio, including datasheets and pictures, go to www.alientechnology.com/readers
About Alien Technology
Founded in 1994, Alien Technology is a leading technology and product provider of UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Integrated Circuits (IC), tags, readers and professional services. Alien Gen 2 products, along with software solutions from partners, help solve business problems for customers to improve productivity, processes, security and asset tracking for closed-loop and supply chain systems. These solutions are currently implemented in industries such as consumer packaged goods, retail, manufacturing, transportation, airports and cargo logistics, government and defense, and more. Alien's patented Fluidic Self Assembly (FSA) technology and related proprietary manufacturing processes are designed to enable the manufacture of high volume, low-cost RFID tags. Quatrotec, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alien Technology, is a specialized professional services and technology firm that provides complete solutions to meet the sophisticated requirements of the transportation industry. Alien's facilities include corporate headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA; RFID tag manufacturing facility in Fargo, ND; the Alien RFID Solutions Center in Dayton, OH; Quatrotec's offices at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO); and sales offices in the US, Europe and Asia. Alien is a member of EPCglobal. For more information please visit www.alientechnology.com
Source: Alien Technology Corporation