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

Microsoft, Georgia Tech partner up for research

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Microsoft has announced plans to invest in an RFID-centered research partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology, better known as Georgia Tech. The two-year, $600,000 deal will finance research by Georgia Tech’s Georgia Electric Design Center, focusing on the development of cost-effective, secure RFID labeling.


The goal of the research project is the development of low-cost, paper-based labeling solution for the pharmaceutical industry. The researchers hope to modify existing ink-jet printer technology to create the labels, and to achieve cost levels which are comparable to current consumer package labels.

Microsoft will supply the funding in the partnership, with the Georgia Tech facility contributing research space, equipment, and labor. The six-year-old Georgia Electric Design Center also has research partnerships with Samsung and Agilent.

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Barnes and Noble is planning to embed NFC technology in future Nook e-readers.

In an interview with Fortune, B&N CEO William Lynch related his vision of Nook users shopping for books by tapping their e-readers against an NFC chip embedded in the book’s cover, giving them instant access to reviews and other information – much like what publisher Atria piloted last October.

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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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Microsoft Corp. has received a patent for a biometric-reading, pressure sensitive surface that can be used on a video game controller to enable user login by touch.

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Microsoft has filed a U.S. patent for a logo that marks a device as NFC-enabled, according to NFC World.

The “Tap and Do” logo (pictured, courtesy of NFC World) will be included on computers and other hardware that feature NFC connectivity, as well as on NFC-enabled computer software.

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New research from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that nearly two-thirds of tech experts believe that smart phones will overtake credit cards as the dominant form of payment by 2020.

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Thursby Software Systems Inc. has released ADmitMac PKI v4, the fourth generation of its two-factor security software for the Mac OS. This version supports OS X Lion and Snow Leopard.

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