Microsoft is enlisting in a venture designed to
help develop standards for radio frequency tags intended for use by
retailers and manufacturers to track goods.
The software maker said Tuesday that it will work with Auto ID, a joint venture of the Uniform Code Council and EAN International, to develop commercial and technical standards for radio frequency ID (or RFID) tags.
The tags, which are extremely small, could one day
replace bar codes on product
packaging, using special microchips to communicate wirelessly with
computers when scanned. The scanning can be automated to track goods as
they flow through the supply chain--from manufacturers to distributors to
stores and eventually to customers. The tags currently cost around 50
cents apiece, and will need to come way down in price before their use
becomes practical on individual products, analysts say.The software maker said Tuesday that it will work with Auto ID, a joint venture of the Uniform Code Council and EAN International, to develop commercial and technical standards for radio frequency ID (or RFID) tags.
But retailers are still pushing for them. Retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores is expected this week to ask its top 100 suppliers to begin using the chips to help track inventory by 2005.
Privacy advocates also have raised warning flags about the technology, especially its inclusion in garments. The inventory-tracking chips are expected to include a kill switch before they end up in products.
Auto ID will be developing standards for the Electronic Product Code Network, which uses radio frequency and network systems to identify products. Microsoft said its work will initially focus on supply chains in the manufacturing and retail sectors. Further ahead, the company said it would work with partners to develop RFID technology throughout the supply chain.
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