Pittsburgh’s Port Authority has outlined plans to use smart cards to pay for nearly every mode of transportation, including bus fares, bike rentals, and even parking fees, according to The Pittsburgh Tribune. In addition to the $33 million left over from construction of the West Busway, the Port Authority is seeking $10.9 million in federal […]

Passengers switching trains in Amsterdam and Rotterdam are often caught paying twice with their contactless smart cards, according to squidcard.com. According to Dutch News, the double charge occurs when customers cross networks run by different transport companies. Because each company uses its own system, no set fee has been established. The smart card system, called […]

Vodafone has teamed up with Spanish railway operator Renfe to launch an NFC payment trial in Renfre’s Madrid train stations. Users will be able to access the trains by tapping their NFC-enabled mobile phones against readers installed on the platforms. The project aims to improve the passengers flow at Renfe stations, particularly during peak hours. […]

National Australia Bank (NAB) has begun issuing Visa cards equipped with contactless Visa payWave technology, according to zdnet.com. To support the new cards, NAB has also announced 2,500 contactless card readers will be delivered to merchants in Sydney and Melbourne. The new cards will allow customers to pay for purchases less than $100 by simply […]

In partnership with BMO Bank of Montreal and Research In Motion, MasterCard Canada is bringing its PayPass Tap & Go contactless payment technology to BlackBerry smart phones for a four-month trial. In this trial, participants will use PayPass Mobile Tag-equipped BlackBerry devices to make purchases at any of the 8,500 merchant locations in Canada that […]

By May 2010, Londoners will be using contactless smart cards to access a new public bicycle sharing program, according to squidcard.com. The project will include 431 bicycle docking stations installed in nine of London’s boroughs and parks. Mayor Boris Johnson hopes the system will encourage bicycle use in lieu of cars and buses–a switch that […]

Alien Technology’s RFID solution center has received a Test Center Accreditation Certificate from GS1, allowing the facility to provide GS1 EPCglobal-certified testing services. The EPCglobal Performance Test Center Accredition Program assesses the capabilities of testing facilities around the globe. Accredited test centers use a standardized set of performance test profiles to simulate real-world conditions to […]

The European EPC Competence Center (EECC) has tested and certified the Nordic ID PL3000 Cross Dipole UHF RFID reader in accordance with the RFID handheld performance requirements. The handheld PL3000 was tested for transmission power, receiver sensitivity, antenna radiation pattern and suitability for daily use. The reader performed well in all categories, achieving the best […]

Infinite Power Solutions has announced availability of the THINERGY MEC102, its new solid-state, thin-film, single cell battery designed for use in micro-electronic applications, such as semi-active RFID tags. The tiny MEC102 provides a nominal 4V output and features a flexible package design that maximizes the active area of the cell while minimizing the device’s footprint. […]

Researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a new way to combat passive RFID tag cloning using the physical attributes of a tag to identify it rather than just the information stored on it. According to Professor Dale R. Thomas, passive RFID tags are easy to counterfeit because they do not include conventional encryption […]