This Week’s Product Pick

Citizen Systems America (Torrance, CA) has added label printing capability to its popular thermal POS printers and now offers the CT-S4000L and CT-S2000L. The smaller CT-S2000L can accommodate four different paper sizes up to 82.5 mm and handle label media up to 3.15 in. x 11 in. Spill Shield technology protects against harsh environments. For printing larger labels, the CT-S4000L can handle paper widths up to 112 mm and label media up to 4 in. x 11 in. Featuring Direct Memory Access (DMA), this printer quickly downloads text and graphics for increased productivity. Both printers feature easy drop-in paper or media loading, high print speeds, and optical and black mark sensors that allow them to work with a wide variety of labels. “The CT-S4000L and CT-S2000L are great printers that have proven themselves in many different industry segments,” said Seth Avergon, Senior Director of Marketing for Citizen Systems America. “Now, with the addition of label printing capability, we think that these two printers are some of the most versatile on the market today.” For more information, click here.

Citizen CT-S2000L with Spill Shield

Worth Your While

IMPACT Now
ScanSource
November 10-11
Orlando

NRF Annual Convention & Expo
National Retail Federation
January 11-14, 2009
New York

ProMat 2009
Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA)
January 12-15, 2009
Chicago

Inspire 2009
Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA)
January 18-21, 2009
Aruba Marriott Resort

NRA Show
National Restaurant Association
May 16-19, 2009
Chicago

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Intermec Fashions Wearable Printers

Intermec (Everett, WA) introduced its PB2 and PB3 commercial mobile receipt printers for direct store delivery (DSD), route accounting, retail queue busting, and field-service applications. The lightweight two-inch and three-inch printers, described as “wearable,” complement the Intermec CN3 and CK3 mobile computers and offer Bluetooth and 802.11g wireless connectivity as well as optional magnetic-stripe reading for accepting payments.

According to Intermec, the PB2 and PB3 printers can be comfortably worn all day using the belt loop system that comes standard with every printer, or the optional shoulder strap. Hands-free options also include the weather-resistant, IP54-rated environmental case for outdoor purposes such as electronic citations, postal delivery, and car rental return processing. The printers also feature long-lasting, field-replaceable batteries that can be charged independent of the printer, maximizing uptime and convenience.

“We designed the PB2 and PB3 printers to increase productivity for workers on the go with low upfront purchase cost,” commented Earl Thompson, SVP and GM of the Intermec Mobile Solutions Business Unit. “The devices support our mission to provide integrated printing and computing solutions that enable businesses to enhance supply chain operations and maximize profit.”

PB2 and PB3 Mobile Receipt Printers from Intermec

StealthTouch-M7 Pioneers Larger Screen Size

Pioneer POS (City of Industry, CA) has extended its POS offering with the new StealthTouch-M7 17-inch all-in-one touch computer powered by 2-GHz Pentium-M technology. The new terminal complements the 15-inch StealthTouch-M5 introduced earlier this year. Pioneer has added two new options to both products: built-in privacy filter to protect sensitive data and integrated Webcam. Other options include magnetic-stripe card reader, 10-inch LCD as customer-facing display, and omni-directional barcode scanner.

When configured as fanless and diskless thin client, the M7 will reduce grease and dust intakes. It also has the power to run demanding applications in Windows XP or Vista. Features include rugged, spill-resistant enclosure, four serial and six USB ports, 10/100/1000BaseT networking, and choice of Resistive, Capacitive, Surface Acoustic Wave, or Infrared touchscreen.

“The 17-inch M7 all-in-one touch computer is ideal for applications like healthcare, kiosk or gaming in which a larger screen size is often required,” remarked Michael Flores, Director, Business Development at Pioneer POS. “Its versatile design allows you to customize the M7 to meet your application requirements and budget.”

StealthTouch-M7 by Pioneer POS

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GOVERNMENT & REGULATION

Dept. of Justice Okays Pool Play for RFID

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it will not challenge the RFID Consortium’s plans to jointly license patents in UHF RFID technology held by its member companies. This decision was stated in a business review letter from Thomas Barnett, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division, to counsel for the RFID Consortium LLC. “The proposed patent-licensing arrangement has the potential to speed up the commercialization of UHF RFID technology, to the benefit of competition and consumers, without harming competition or impeding innovation,” Barnett concluded.

Established in 2005, the RFID Consortium now consists of seven technology vendors: Zebra Technologies, ThingMagic, Motorola, LG Electronics, Hewlett-Packard, France Telecom, and 3M. Each company holds one or more patents considered essential to manufacturing products in compliance with UHF RFID standards announced by EPCglobal and ISO/IEC. Under the RFID Consortium’s proposal, an independent licensing agent—Via Licensing Corporation (San Francisco)—will offer nonexclusive licenses to the pool of patents “on fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory terms.” An independent expert will review things to ensure that the portfolio does not combine patents that would otherwise compete with each other. Revenue will be divided among all patent holders based on a formula that takes into consideration the number of patents they contribute in each case. The owners of the patents will retain the rights to license their patents independently.

“Our goal has been to help companies in the RFID industry and the participating patent holders avoid high transaction costs, blocking positions, and costly litigation which might otherwise occur,” asserted Jim O’Hagan, Administrative Committee Member for the RFID Consortium. “We are pleased the Department of Justice found that the Consortium’s proposal could result in cost savings and greater access to the technology.” O’Hagan encouraged any company with essential UHF RFID patents to join his organization.

LEAN and Hungry Look

Selling digital menu boards tied to the POS?

Keep an eye out for opportunities generated by the Labeling Education and Nutrition (LEAN) Act, which was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Tom Carper (D-Delaware) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). This attempts to set national, uniform standards for providing consumers with nutrition information in U.S. restaurants, rather than the hodgepodge of state regulations that now rule. The bill would extend requirements enacted by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, which covered packaged foods, and would apply to restaurant and grocery chains with 20 or more outlets.

“We are pleased to see the bipartisan work of Senators Tom Carper and Lisa Murkowski on this legislation, and hope it will launch a constructive national dialogue on the availability of nutrition information,” said Dawn Sweeney, President/CEO of the National Restaurant Association (Washington, DC). “Consumers deserve access to the same nutrition information no matter where they are across the country. We support the legislation’s goal to reduce the patchwork of inconsistent state and local ordinance with a national standard for chain restaurants that empowers consumers to make the choices that are best for them.”

While sponsors of the bill hope to address the problem of obesity, the growing numbers of resellers installing digital menu boards would likely see that segment fatten, since restaurants would be required to post nutrition information, including calories, to patrons before they reach the point of purchase. At the recent KioskCom Show in New York, RRN.Com bumped into several prominent POS resellers who hoped to capitalize on the proposed legislation.

Micros Offers Nextep Digital Menu Board Technology to Its POS Partners

Code Corner

Wasp Barcode Technologies (Plano, TX) has released Wasp Inventory Control V5, packed with new functionality for small business owners. This version offers new alerts, enhanced security, improved barcode label printing, additional reports, and enhanced data entry that speeds the receiving and check-out processes by locking down common tracking fields. The software’s reports provide an accurate accounting of inventory, including costs, quantity, location, re-order points, and visibility into which items are moving. Wasp Inventory Control V5 comes in three versions. Standard ($595) offers one PC license and one mobile license. Professional ($1,495) features five PC licenses and one mobile license. In addition, Pro now offers kitting, as well as assembly and disassembly functionality. Enterprise ($2,995) includes the same features as Pro, but with unlimited PC user licenses and five mobile licenses. For complete solutions, customers can choose from a wide range of integrated packages with barcode scanners, mobile scanning devices, and barcode printers. “Business owners generally don’t realize how easy and profitable it can be to implement an inventory tracking process,” noted Tom O’Shea, GM of Wasp Barcode Technologies. “Automatic inventory tracking has a two-pronged benefit. First, improvements in efficiency can have a profound impact on reducing costs. In addition, access to accurate information can create opportunities for top-line revenue growth. By deploying technology such as Wasp Inventory Control to both save costs and increase sales, small businesses can position themselves to compete more effectively in today’s challenging economic environment.” For more information, click here.

STARTS & STOPS

Motorola Keeps Ball Rolling

Busy month at Motorola. First, Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility Business (Holtsville, NY) announced Windows Mobile 6.1 support for its MC9000 and MC3000 mobile computers, and its MC70 and MC75 Enterprise Digital Assistants. “By supporting the latest Windows Mobile offerings, Motorola helps to provide a significant advantage for application developers while continuing to help enterprise mobility customers increase productivity and improve mobile business performance,” declared Brian Viscount, VP of Mobile Computing, Motorola EMB. In addition, Microsoft’s System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 provides benefits in system administration, software deployment, and security.

Secondly, Motorola has integrated AirDefense’s Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS) sensor into its enterprise-grade WLAN access points, the AP-5131 (802.11 a/b/g) and AP-7131 (802.11 a/b/g/n). “Worldwide, business demand for seamless security in all-wireless enterprise environments is steadily increasing,” observed Sujai Hajela, VP and GM of Enterprise WLAN, Motorola EMB. “Motorola and AirDefense have already hit the ground running and are ready to offer our customers around the world streamlined secure enterprise networks at the lowest total cost of ownership.” AirDefense, you will recall, was recently purchased by Motorola.

Lastly, France’s Safran, through its Sagem Securite subsidiary, has agreed to acquire the biometric business unit within Motorola, which includes its Printrak trademark. “Biometrics is a very dynamic business that we believe requires companies to specialize in the technology,” explained Gene Delaney, President, Government & Public Safety, Motorola (Anaheim, CA). “To best serve our customers and employees, Motorola made the judgment that we need to concentrate and lead in our area of strength—delivering best-in-class mission critical communications solutions for government, public safety, and commercial customers.” The transaction is targeted to close in Q1 of 2009.

Software for the Green Industry

POSitive Software Company (Richland, WA) has named G7 USA (Westlake, OH) as the exclusive North American distributor for its new POSitiveGEM (Green Enterprise Management) software. The new POS solution was designed specifically for the “green industry,” which encompasses greenhouses, nurseries, and landscape suppliers, and will be sold only through authorized G7 USA resellers.

“We’ve been providing solutions to the green industry since 1984, so we have an intimate knowledge of what products are currently available,” indicated Dan Spikowski, President of G7 USA. “POSitiveGEM sets the new benchmark for functionality, performance, and price.” According to Wayne Heaton, VP of Sales for POSitive, the new software package is the first product his company has developed for a specific vertical market and G7 USA participated in its “fine-tuning.”

POSitiveGEM allows users to search inventory by SKU, Common Name, Botanical Name or Category, and look-up can be filtered to show only items in stock. Integration with Microsoft MapPoint helps to plan efficient delivery routes and target advertising to areas with most customers. The Sales vs. Weather chart compares sales for any time period with the weather conditions that occurred. Section Manager organizes invoices, orders, and quotes into easily managed categories such as Front Yard, Back Yard, or Materials and Labor. Finally, Division Manager allows different business units to draw from the same inventory, but with different pricing.

Wayne Heaton, VP of Sales, POSitive Software

Key Advertiser Links

Be sure to visit these vendors for the latest in channel products and offers for resellers.

POS & Auto ID Distribution
BlueStar
Ingram Micro
ScanSource

POS & Peripherals
Bematech
Logic Controls
POS-X

Barcode Printers
Wasp Barcode Technologies

Data Collection Terminals
CipherLab
Datalogic Mobile
Honeywell Scanning & Mobility
Honeywell Scanning & Mobility/Metrologic
Janam Technologies

ECRs / Touchscreens / Printers/
Parts and Supplies
CRS, Inc.

Receipt Printers
Citizen Systems America
Star Micronics

Retail Software
InfoTouch
Logivision

Screen Protection
3M Optical Products

Thermal Printers
Seiko Instruments USA

HELLO GOODBYE

First Data Dials Technology Heavyweight

First Data (Denver) has hired Robert DeRodes as its Chief Technology Officer in charge of global product development, systems, infrastructure, and processes. DeRodes will join the company’s executive management team and report directly to Chairman/CEO Michael Capellas.

“Bob is one of the most respected technology leaders with an intuitive understanding of how to leverage technology to deliver innovative solutions and provide customer value,” Capellas noted. “His experience and proven track record will help us reach the next level as we strive to become a leading technology services provider.”

DeRodes’ IT experience spans more than 39 years in industries such as financial services, retail, and airline. He recently served as EVP and CIO for The Home Depot, where he was responsible for spearheading the company’s technology transformation over the last seven years. DeRodes also served as CEO for Delta Technology and CIO for Delta Air Lines. Prior to Delta, he was CTO for Citibank N.Y. Global Card Products Group, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of a global cards technology platform.

BlueStar Canada Promotes Nassif

BlueStar Canada (Montreal) has named Ghassan Nassif to the position of Regional Sales Manager, with responsibility for growing business in Eastern Canada. A BlueStar employee since 2000, Nassif holds an MBA degree and previously served as Senior Account Manager, where he developed and guided a number of major national accounts for the distributor.

“Ghassan, who has been with BlueStar Canada for more than eight years, was responsible for landing the largest Motorola deal in our history, and has maintained fruitful relationships with a multitude of our key clients,” stated Jacques Lapierre, President of BlueStar Canada. “His attention to detail and relentless approach to sales will definitely be an advantage for him in his new role.”

“I am very proud to be a part of the BlueStar family, where I have seen and participated in continual growth over the years,” Nassif said. “I am looking forward to bringing my experience to the Montreal sales team, and leading the team in growing and exceeding sales targets.”

Ghassan Nassif, Regional Sales Manager, BlueStar Canada

Channel Factoid

Global revenues for barcode printers will rise from $1.98 billion in 2007 to $2.85 billion in 2012 as the product continues to become more commoditized. Recent M&A activity such as Avery Dennison’s purchase of Paxar, Sato’s acquisition of Checkpoint’s printer unit, Vector Capital’s purchase of Printronix, and Toshiba TEC’s acquisition of the Auto ID division of Ricoh has led to fewer suppliers with greater clout. Suppliers are beginning to diversify their product portfolios beyond hardware sales by offering software and supporting services as the way to add more value. “There are still areas of solid growth where barcode printers can, and will, thrive in the near to mid term, such as mobile printing, hybrid devices, and RFID,” observed Kevin Permenter, AIDC Analyst at VDC Research Group.

INTEGRATION

Avnet Addresses Leaping Solutions Sales

Avnet has opened its new state-of-the-art, 228,000-square-foot technology integration and logistics facility, the Avnet Global Solutions Center. The facility provides integration services and support for Avnet Technology Solutions’ VARs and OEM customers, and roughly doubles the distributor’s Americas integration capacity. It has the capability to build and ship over 700,000 technology systems annually, according to Avnet, and employs 150 certified engineers and technicians.

Located in Chandler, AZ, the Avnet Global Solutions Center features 118,000 square feet of high-bay warehouse space with 10,000 pallet locations featuring wire-guided forklifts and new warehouse management system; 45,000-square-foot integration center; 3,000-square-foot repair depot; and 3,000-square-foot “first article” lab. Additionally, the facility is certified to ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001, for quality assurance and ISO 13485 for medical compliance. It incorporates several features to reduce Avnet’s energy consumption, such as customized insulation and motion-sensor controlled lighting.

“Solutions sales are growing at an incredible pace, and the services available through Avnet’s Global Solutions Center help our customers continue to evolve into complete solution providers, delivering total integrated solutions that drive their growth,” stated Jeff Bawol, President, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. “This new facility can meet integration requests of any scope quickly and effectively, ultimately cutting costs and speeding time-to-market for our VAR and OEM customers. We’re excited about the size and increased capabilities the new space brings and look forward to helping our customers continue to move their businesses forward.”