Last week DecisionPoint announced the release of a new version of the Grapevine Push-to-Talk Windows Mobile client.  Version 1.8 upgrades include:

• New keep-alives algorithm that improves reliability
• Default keep-alive interval has been increased to 60 seconds from 20 seconds
• Support VOX mode

Check out the Grapevine Push-to-Talk demo video to see the high-quality voice and performance in action.

Let’s Get Mobile!  Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. for additional information about Grapevine Push-to-Talk software.

It’s time for the last in our series of Global Bay mobile inventory quick demos.  Today’s video shows how quickly you can assist customers with on-the-spot price lookups.

Retail inventory management solutions and rugged mobile devices extend inventory system functionality to the store floor to increase customer satisfaction and employee productivity with applications for:

• Receiving
• Transfers
• Cycle counts
• Adjustments

And more!

Let’s Get Mobile!  Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. for additional information about retail inventory management solutions.

It’s time for part 3 of our closer look at RFID frequencies.  Last week I provided information about High Frequency (HF) Passive RFID and today I’m providing additional information about Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Passive RFID.  860-960 MHZ UHF RFID (passive) has the following characteristics:

• Read range: from approximately 1 inch to 10-20 ft.
• Reads multiple tags simultaneously
• Provides a fast data transfer rate
• Moderate memory: minimum 96 bits for EPC data and 512 bits to kilobytes for user data
• Supports the EPC standard
• Provides a worldwide frequency

Typical UHF RFID applications include:

• Retail and supply chain inventory management
• Inventory and cycle counting
• Asset tracking: airline baggage, tools, returnable transport items (RTIs)
• Track and trace: food traceability, pharmaceutical tracking
• Maintenance and inspections

Let’s Get Mobile!  Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about the appropriate RFID technology for your application.

It’s time for another Global Bay mobile inventory quick demo.  At the beginning of the week we shared a short video demo of the mobile inventory transfer function.  Today’s video focuses on inventory cycle counts.  Cycle counts can be time consuming when done manually, but with a retail inventory management solution the process is efficient and accurate.  See how easily cycle counts can be performed with Global Bay’s mobile inventory software and Motorola’s rugged mobile computers.

Let’s Get Mobile!  Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. for additional information about end-to-end retail inventory management solutions.

It’s time for part 2 of our closer look at RFID frequencies and technologies.  Today I’ll be providing additional information about High Frequency (HF) Passive RFID.  13.56 MHZ HF RFID (passive) has the following characteristics:

• Read range: from approximately 1 inch to 3.28 ft.
• Reads multiple tags simultaneously
• Moderate memory: 256 to 16KB
• Penetrates most materials well, including water and body tissue
• Easily embedded in non-metallic items
• Not as effective as LF RFID in the presence of metal
• Not typically affected by electrical noise in an industrial environment
• Orientation of tags influences communication range-optimum range requires reader and tag to be parallel

Typical HF RFID applications include:

• Access control-ID cards and employee badges
• Asset tracking
• Retail security and Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS)
• Patient and specimen tracking in healthcare
• Maintenance and inspections

Check back next week for part 3 when I take a closer look at Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) RFID.

Let’s Get Mobile!  Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about the appropriate RFID technology for your application.

As mentioned in our Aug. 22nd post about selecting the appropriate RFID frequency for your application, today I’m providing the first in a three part series that takes a closer look at a few of the different RFID frequencies. Today we’re taking a closer look at Low Frequency (LF) Passive RFID. 125-134 KHZ LF RFID (passive) has the following characteristics:

• Read range: from approximately 1 inch to 1.5 ft.
• Reads one tag at a time
• Limited memory: 96 to 2,000 bits
• Penetrates most materials well, including water and metal
• Easily embedded in non-metallic items
• May be affected by electrical noise in an industrial environment

Typical LF RFID applications:

• Access control-such as contactless tags that are read to enter/exit parking lots or buildings
• Customer IDs via key fobs
• Animal tracking
• Legacy asset tracking

Check back tomorrow for part 2 when I take a closer look at High Frequency (HF) RFID.

Let’s Get Mobile! Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about the appropriate RFID technology for your application.

It’s time for another Global Bay mobile inventory quick demo.  Today’s video shows how easily transfers in and out of a store can be completed on Motorola’s enterprise-class rugged mobile devices running Global Bay’s robust mobile inventory software for retailers.

Let’s Get Mobile!  Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. for additional information about Global Bay’s full GBmobile Mobile Inventory retail suite.

RFID solutions improve accuracy and overall operations across a wide range of industries by providing identification, location and tracking capabilities.  But RFID comes in many different frequencies, such as Low Frequency (LF), High Frequency (HF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF).  All RFID technologies work in similar ways, but each has its own set of performance characteristics that determine the applications they’re best suited for.  Understanding these characteristics is important when selecting the technology for your RFID applications.  Motorola Solutions recommends asking yourself the following questions to help with the selection:

1. What is the minimum and maximum distance between tags and readers?
2. Do you need to read one tag at a time or many tags simultaneously?
3. Are you tracking items that are relatively inexpensive or high cost items?
4. How much information do you need to store on tags?
5. Do you need to conduct payments or other transactions with RFID-enabled devices?
6. Where do you need to read tags? For example, as assets move in and out of the loading dock for receiving and shipping? As assets pass through specific areas?
7. How sensitive is the data on the tag? What level of security will the data require?

Be sure to check back later this week as I take a closer look at each type of RFID technology and the typical applications they’re used for.

Let’s Get Mobile!  Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. for additional information about end-to-end RFID solutions.

I’m sure you have all heard that Google has entered into an agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. In a company blog post, Google CEO Larry Page said that the acquisition will “supercharge the Android ecosystem.” Click here to read the entire post.

Motorola Mobility ships phones and its XOOM tablet with Google’s Android operating system and has an impressive patent portfolio. The transaction is expected to close at the end of the year or early 2012.

Let’s Get Mobile! Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. for information about our mobile solutions.

The 2011 ISM Conference wrapped up yesterday and for those of you that attended the show we’d like to thank you for stopping by the DecisionPoint, Mobile Epiphany and Motorola booth. We hope you found the conference as beneficial as we did. For those of you that were unable to attend this year, now is your opportunity to learn more about our end-to-end mobile solutions that improve child welfare while simultaneously increasing the efficiency of caseworker visitations.

Download the DecisionPoint and Mobile Epiphany datasheet to learn more about our mobile solutions designed for Children’s Services. Also be sure to check out the Touch Inspect Children’s Services demo video.

Let’s Get Mobile! Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about Touch Inspect and our mobile solutions that benefit caseworkers and children.