Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

Lost Luggage Phobia? BagChip Program Comes To The Rescue

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Most likely, it’s happened to you at least once.

But if RFID LTD’s new product is successful, the stress of lost baggage will be a thing of the past.

The Denver company just launched its “BagChip” program, which focuses on using RFID to help airlines lose it (baggage) less often.

It’s been in the works for years – Delta Airlines began testing it in 2004 (back then nearly one percent of baggage, or 800,000 units, was misplaced).



RFID, LTD. To Improve Airline Luggage Routing With BagChip Technology 11/28/2006

Denver, CO - RFID LTD. announces their “BagChip” program has been launched, focusing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology as a solution to the airlines monumental “lost baggage” issue.

According to RFID following are some companies began testing:

Delta Airlines began testing the viability of an RFID baggage tracking solution in 2004. Delta then estimated that approximately 0.7 percent of baggage handled is misplaced, which translated into roughly 800,000 bags per year. Transporting those bags to their rightful owners cost the company an estimated $100M annually. Most members of the AMEX Airline Index (AMEX:XAL) have also used RFID in conjunction with baggage handling through their operations at Las Vegas’ McCarran Airport.

Individual travelers will have the opportunity to purchase “BagChip” tags directly from RFID, LTD. “BagChips” will host the travelers name, address and phone number as well a unique numeric id. Airport personnel can quickly scan baggage inventory using hand-held medium range transponders by Alien Technology or Symbol Technologies, Inc. to locate the lost bags at predetermined places within the airport’s baggage system.

Estimated price for a “BagChip” is $10 for the first version of tags that have not been integrated into an airline’s legacy baggage system, according to the company.

SOURCE: RFID LTD. [end] 

Student cards already serve attendance, access control

By Zack Martin, Editor, Avisian Publishing

To use a transportation analogy, three separate tracks are coming together in Philadelphia to form a very interesting student ID and public transit solution.

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The state of Georgia has enlisted the help of LexisNexis to start a pilot program that utilizes identity verification and authentication tools to combatting tax fraud, reports Accounting Today.

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Axios Mobile Assets Corporatio partnered with Canadian logistics firm, J.D. Smith and Sons, on a six-month pilot program using Axios’ RFID-enabled pallets and tracking technology.

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Three University of California, Riverside scholars have received a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to launch a program that will use facial recognition software to identify unknown subjects in portrait art.

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OC Transpo, Canada is planning a new smart card system to roll out this year that will help reduce lost revenues due to malfunctions with the transit’s electronic fare boxes, according to CBC News.

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ReboundTAG, based in the United Kingdom, has created a new solution focused on preventing baggage theft or loss for airlines and individual business flyers through the use of RFID technology.

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