UnwireIndia

A Little World (ALW) the developer of ZERO, the platform for branchless banking, with focus on financial inclusion, has announced the appointment of Sonjoy Mohanty as its Chief Executive Officer.

In his new role, Sonjoy will be responsible for building the business while extending the reach of ALW and the partner network for ZERO. Sonjoy aims to establish ZERO as the most preferred payment brand and bring about a real difference in the lives of the “unbanked” population in India by providing access to banking and financial services. The ZERO platform is based on new generation technologies like Near Field Communication (NFC), RFID and Biometric Authentication.
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Leaders in delivering innovative telecom solutions for mobile operators and MVNOs worldwide, XIUS-bcgi, the telecom division of Megasoft Limited has announced the release of its eCogNito solution. This end-to-end transaction platform will be offered as a pilot to Bharti Airtel. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding.

India’s leading Telecom Company, Bharti Airtel boasts of more than 50 million users. Their ever increasing customer base will improve with eCognNito’s ease of use solutions. The service will enhance accessibility, penetration and adoptions of Bharti Airtel’s m-commerce offerings along with the company’s rural initiatives.
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The Regional Transport Authority of Hyderabad, India, has announced plans to monitor its driving test tracks with an RFID-enabled system designed to automate testing for driver licenses.

The new system will be tested in a pilot program at one of the RTA’s three test tracks. The Nagole track will be equipped with a set of RFID readers buried 15 inches beneath the road surface. Applicants for licenses will drive vehicles outfitted with antennas, and the system will track variations in movement, speed limit and wrong turns within parameters preset by the RTA. Test scores, and the prospective driver’s ability, will be judged in a graph format.
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Photon, a next generation Internet consulting firm creating innovative e-business solutions with SOA, Open Source, and Web 2.0 technologies, today announced the Photon Mobile Lab, a research facility dedicated to mobile application development and testing. Based in Photon’s new Estancia offices, in the IT corridor of Chennai, India, the lab provides a comprehensive testing environment for developers to ensure applications work flawlessly and consistently, no matter what combination of device, mobile operating system or carrier network is used.

The lab eliminates the need for mobile application vendors to set up their own phone and network testing facilities, thereby saving them money. According to IDC, 70 percent of mobile devices will be smartphones by 2010. As part of Photon’s growing mobile strategy practice, the lab ensures customers can leverage emerging mobile applications as they converge with web 2.0 and social technologies — such as Location Based Services (LBS), content sharing/delivery and rich calls.
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Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retail chain that sources more than $5 billion worth of goods from India, may soon bank on Indian expertise to keep track of its products on the shelves.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) products, which are used by large retailers to monitor sales, will now be manufactured from India. Gemini Communications, a Chennai-based technology company, has recently set up South Asia’s first RFID manufacturing plant in Chennai. China and Taiwan have the maximum number of RFID plants in the world.

In 2004, retail giant Wal-Mart had made the use of RFID mandatory for its 1,500 stores and suppliers across the globe. Indian software companies such as TCS, Wipro and Read the rest of this entry »

Get your facts right — Frost & Sullivan says there is still much confusion about the similarities and differences between the two technologies.

There remains considerable confusion over the similarities and differences between RFID and contactless smart card technology, although contactless technology is experiencing a surge. The market still lacks a clear understanding of what smart card technology is able to do in terms of security and processing, says Frost & Sullivan. This, in turn, is leading to user anxiety and concerns over the security and privacy issues when used for personal documents and confidential transactions.

“Confusion between the two technologies could eventually impede the potential growth of both RFID and contactless smart cards markets,” said Foong. “Hence, it is imperative that market participants work towards increasing market awareness of both their capabilities and Read the rest of this entry »

Future Group, the Rs 2,000-crore Indian retail giant, is set to invest close to Rs 400 crore over a period of three years to revamp its IT infrastructure, and is in talks with Cisco and IBM to outsource its IT operations.

While Cisco will be creating a wireless environment for the retail giant, IBM will be responsible for all the applications development (such as enterprise resource planning and supply chain management modules) and architecture-designing (the IT backbone) work. The group is in the process of charting out service level agreements with both the companies.

One of the biggest problem the domestic retailers face today is how to reduce the check-out time for customers. This has been a key area of concern for the retail giant. Chairman Kishore Biyani wants a wireless infrastructure or a multi-technology platform that can actually track each customer walking in and out of the store, without having to Read the rest of this entry »

The first smart card making plant in the country - set up by Hyderabad-based Bartronics India has begun production.

The company will now look at capturing the fast-growing global demand for smart cards. It also aims to close deals to acquire RFID solutions companies in the US.

Bartronics is known for turnkey execution of bar-coding, radio frequency-based identification (RFID), and biometric technologies with almost half of its revenues coming from the RFID solutions space. A study by Frost & Sullivan has put the demand for smart cards at over 150 million units this year and growing at a CAGR of around 45%. In India, Read the rest of this entry »

Ever wanted to talk non-stop with your loved one without any drop in connectivity? Ever wondered how wonderful it would be to sit in the garden outside your apartment and log on to the web without the hassle of miles of cables and an extension device? Apartment owners in Bangalore’s Diamond District residential complex are doing just that, tapping seamless connectivity thanks to a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) mesh alpha network deployed by Cisco.

The complex consists of 917 apartments over 14.5 acres. The mesh architecture ensures free broadband internet access via Wi-Fi enabled devices like laptops or PDAs from any point. About 20 access points at regular intervals pick up the signal from the devices. Says Sanjay Malpani, engineering manager, WNBU, Global Development Centre, Cisco, “The best aspect is there is Read the rest of this entry »

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) expects to finalize the consultant who would provide advice on the use of technology based on radio frequency identification devices (RFID) at electronic toll collection systems, by June.

It is also exploring the possibility of paying toll through mobile phones once the system is in place. The blueprint for the system to be used is likely to be ready within a year. The consultant will help to establish a common standard for electronic payment at toll gates across the nation. The objective is to ensure interoperability so that vehicle-users can use the same on-board units to pay toll everywhere. The RFID system is used to perform an electronic monetary transaction between a vehicle passing through a toll plaza and the toll collection agency.

Source: Financial Express

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