This Week’s Product Pick
Unitech (Cypress, CA) introduced its MT380 Tashi Terminal, which consolidates time and attendance and access control functions through ready-to-read biometric and contactless smart card capabilities (including MiFare, EM, and HID proximity formats). The compact MT380 comes equipped with 3.5-inch TFT LCD QVGA (320x240 pixel) color touchscreen, large numeric keypad, function keys, and easy-to-read LED notification. An embedded two-megapixel camera and microphone helps to verify identification. The MT380 utilizes Windows CE 5.0, gets support from Unitech's comprehensive SDK (Software Development Kit), and allows authorization combination settings such as 64 grouping, authority verification, security plan, and work-shift templates. The device can manage up to 40,000 identification cards, 44,000 access logs, and 7,000 fingerprint module sets. In addition, the IP-based MT380 can monitor security status via Ethernet or Wi-Fi, which means users do not need to be on-site if problems occur. This ensures protection from any threats of de-encryption, counterfeit identification, or access without authorization, according to the company. "We believe that the age of modern building and home security has come into its own with our Unitech MT380, by providing security perfectly with its strong functions and smart looks," reported Kai Liao, Director of Unitech's Time & Attendence, Security, and Home Intercom Access Control Solutions Division.
MT380 Tashi Terminal from Unitech
COMPANY BUSINESS Ingram Micro “Peers” into SMB Ingram Micro (Santa Ana, CA) has teamed up with Heartland Tech Groups to bring participation in business-focused Peer Groups to the Ingram Micro SMB Alliance partner community. Heartland Tech Groups, which falls under Heartland Technology Solutions, based in the Midwestern U.S. and headed by Arlin Sorensen, will launch and manage the new SMBA Peer Groups for Ingram. “Together with HTG’s leadership, we developed the SMBA Peer Groups to provide members of SMB Alliance with a trusted advisory board that helps them run their business smarter and process issues and resolve challenges more effectively,” declared Ryan Grant, Director, Channel Marketing, Ingram Micro U.S. “HTG has a proven track record for successfully managing Peer Groups and establishing the camaraderie, leadership, and business development resources channel partners need to grow their business. We are thrilled to be working with them to bring such a valued resource to our SMB Alliance community.” That community numbers 3,000 solution providers, but Ingram Micro readily admits the new program won’t be a fit for everyone, since participation takes a great deal of effort as well as the willingness to share company best practices. To join, SMBA members must meet the membership qualifications, pay the $100 monthly membership fee, and and adhere to SMBA's established guidelines. Starting in January 2009, the SMBA Peer Groups will meet four times annually to discuss their most pressing business issues within their individual group. Currently more than 20 Peer Groups are underway, with each consisting of approximately 12 solution providers. Sorensen launched his Peer Group network in 2001 in response to Y2K issues. “We’ve seen great success, not only in building these groups, but more importantly, in helping individual members achieve personal and professional accomplishments they didn’t think were possible,” he said. “At times, business owners can feel all alone with overwhelming responsibilities—especially in today’s challenging economy. These Peer Groups help them to realize others are facing the same challenges, and together, they will find creative ways to manage through and create more efficiency within their business.”
Next Comes HaaS "At NRF, we are offering this with no minimum whatsoever," Ave-Lallemant told RRN.Com. "For those companies that sign up to have a meeting in the month of January, there's absolutely no minimum contract, not even six months. If the retailer wants to try it out for one month, I'll do it. To back that up, we've already put into inventory 1,000 units." Resellers will be brought into the program with certification and 15% margin, Ave-Lallemant explained. At $1200, the pcCashdrawer POS bundle includes Intel's 1-GHz M Series fanless processor embedded in the cash drawer, POS keyboard with magnetic-card stripe reader, LCD flat-panel monitor, and Epson-compatible thermal printer. Microsoft XP is loaded on the hard drive, making it ready for the widest range of POS software, said Ave-Lallemant. The package doesn't include the scanner, he noted, since the vast majority of companies want to specify their specific scanner. Ave-Lallemant emphasized that pcCashdrawer has supplied Hickory Farms with 750 POS units under the HaaS model for the past six months. Hickory Farms, which deploys shopping-mall kiosks during the holiday season, representing unique POS asset allocation and management challenges, recently upped its commitment with pcCashdrawer to five years. Now Ave-Lallemant thinks the HaaS concept is ready for prime time since it frees retailers from making upfront investments in POS, simplifies maintenance and upgrades, and helps stores address their temporary or peak hardware needs. He hopes to start "changing the paradigm" at the NRF Show next week in New York City. A White Paper, "Rental Theory for POS Hardware," by retail consultant Tom Pickles, has been posted on the company Website, at www.pccashdrawer.com
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Worth Your While
NRF Annual Convention & Expo
National Retail Federation
January 11-14
New York
ProMat 2009
Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA)
January 12-15
Chicago
Inspire 2009
Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA)
January 18-21
Aruba Marriott Resort
AIM Technology Leadership Summit
Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility
April 20-22
Chicago
NRA Show
National Restaurant Association
May 16-19
Chicago
NACStech
National Association of Convenience Stores
May 18-20
Grapevine, TX
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Thinking Small at Printek
Printek, Inc. (Benton Harbor, MI) has unveiled two new additions to its PrintekMobile family of rugged thermal printers, the FieldPro LP20 two-inch label printer and the FieldPro RT20 two-inch receipt printer. Weighing just 12 oz. with battery, the FieldPro LP20 accommodates 2.5-inch-diameter media rolls and allows more than 3500 inches of print per charge. Target applications include warehousing, retail shelving, healthcare, and manufacturing. The FieldPro RT20 is identical to the FieldPro LP20 but has a smaller footprint for optimum use in retail, public safety, route accounting, field service, transportation, and sales force automation. It also weighs just 12 oz.
PrintekMobile’s exclusive Universal Port (RJ-45 connection) for external devices such as signature capture pads and barcode scanners comes standard on the FieldPro LP20 and RT20. With 4MB Flash and 8MB SDRAM memory, the two printers will support large and graphic-intensive print jobs. The LP20 and RT20 are embedded with common printer languages (ZPL, CPCL, IPL, OPDL, MPL, E-SIM, EXPL, TEC), thereby facilitating drop-in replacement. All FieldPro 2, 3, and 4-inch printers offer advanced power management, according to Printek, with battery life spanning a full shift or longer. In addition, both the LP20 and the RT20 will operate without battery, meaning end-users can hardwire the printers directly to the cart or vehicle and save the cost of buying batteries.
Printek offers custom factory configuration for all printer settings. This saves approximately 15 minutes set-up time during installation per printer, the company pointed out, which translates to 25 hours saved for every 100 printers installed. The complete spectrum of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and IrDA wireless communications options are available. Accessories include magnetic-stripe card readers, data cables, adapters, batteries, belt loop attachments, plus a large variety of standard and premium media. Finally, Printek offers its free 30-day “test drive” of any PrintekMobile printer, including the new FieldPro LP20 or RT20.
FieldPro RT20 Two-Inch Receipt Printer from Printek
Detecting RFID Direction of Travel
M/A-COM Technology Solutions (Lowell, MA), which supplies microwave and RF design solutions and products, has introduced its floor-mounted RFID portal capable of detecting the direction of travel (DOT) of RFID-tagged items, thereby improving tracking life cycle of such items. Providing DOT information to enterprise systems over standard LLRP (Low Level Reader Protocol) messaging, the portals are powered by Speedway Readers from Impinj (Seattle) and feature three models in the MAID Series (MAID 000028-F02020, F02120, and F02040). The portals are now available in North America.
“Given today’s evolving security and supply chain management landscape, it is not enough that an RFID portal simply registers the tagged item within its sensor range,” said Paul Schwab, Engineering Manager, M/A-COM Technology Solutions. “The ability of our floor-mounted DOT portals to calculate the direction an RFID-tagged item traveled delivers a new level of security and information to the supply chain management field. The bi-directional processing also allows the more advanced middleware providers to more easily discriminate false readers and achieve ultra-high levels of confidence in tracking supplies and assets.”
The configuration employs M/A-COM’s Mono-Static Directional RFID Antennas (MAAN-000223-AT0000 through MAAN-000226-AT0000, to be precise), which feature specialized, narrow-beam, high-gain patterns with the main beams electrically “squinted” to either side, allowing for superior discrimination across the field of view. The antennas mount in all M/A-COM portals. M/A-COM Technology Solutions was formed in September when military and civil systems supplier Cobham acquired the Aerospace & Defense and the Commercial businesses of Tyco Electronics Wireless Systems Segment, d.b.a. M/A-COM, Inc. The Commercial business has been incorporated as M/A-COM Technology Solutions.
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ALLIANCES
Aldelo Certifies Surveillance, Online Ordering
Aldelo Systems (Modesto, CA) has established two supplemental revenue streams for resellers of its POS hospitality software. First, the company has certified digital video hardware and software from Odyssey Technologies (Laurel, MD). As a result of this new partnership, Odyssey’s Remote Eyes digital video management system has been fully integrated with Aldelo’s POS software products, allowing resellers to address the healthy surveillance market.
“Now Aldelo users can immediately enhance their installations with integrated video surveillance,” observed John Webster, CEO of Odyssey Technologies. “Our integration with Aldelo is software-driven, meaning installation is as simple as placing the Remote Eyes server on the same network with the Aldelo system. And users with multiple locations can use Odyssey’s enterprise management services to view transaction data and integrated video from all locations in a single interface.”
In addition, Aldelo has teamed up with LetsGet.net (St. Louis ) to provide restaurant customers with certified online ordering capability. The two companies have completed successful beta testing with existing Aldelo customers and will now make the solution available for general release. LetsGet.net is now soliciting Aldelo resellers who wish to provide online ordering services to their customers, with the promise of both set-up income and residual monthly income.
“Aldelo Systems is pleased to partner with LetsGet.net in providing our customers with a feature-rich and affordable POS integrated online ordering solution," said Harry Tu, CEO of Aldelo. “We were also pleased that LetsGet.net created its reseller program specifically for Aldelo resellers, involving them in both the sales and installation cycles. This is an ideal situation, which not only increases profitability for our resellers, but also lets our customers use their familiar Aldelo reseller support.”
Flower Power for Payment Processing, Inc.
Payment Processing, Inc. (Newark, CA) has partnered with POS software developer and Website hosting service, SunFlower Technologies (Los Angeles), to address the needs of retail florists. Specifically, the PPI PayMover payment platform will support SunFlower’s QuickFlora POS Shop Management System. An all-inclusive, scalable payment platform, PayMover can be integrated with virtually any business application, hosted or deployed, while helping to streamline software development time, according to PPI.
The QuickFlora POS Shop Management System, presented as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), covers all retail functionality for florists. The list includes POS, general ledger, inventory control, accounts receivable, accounts payable, order entry, purchasing, payroll, help-desk, shopping cart, PDA integration, VoIP networking, and customizable reports. To use the application, and link to “the most powerful e-commerce Website in the floral industry,” retailers need only have access to the Internet. To date, SunFlower Technologies hosts over 3,000 Websites for independent florists and serves as the preferred technology provider to three major floral associations. Alex Frost, SunFlower’s President, emphasized the critical need for reliable credit card processing in making the announcement.
“PPI’s extensive background with SaaS applications makes this partnership a natural for us,” noted Chuck Riegel, EVP, Software Products and Partnerships at PPI. “Our payments expertise and SunFlower’s impressive hosted POS application will serve florist operations well.”
Code
Corner
INSTALLATIONS
Restaurant Customers Eat Up Two-Sided Receipts
Silvergreens, the restaurant concept boasting fresh, local ingredients and green efforts in its operations, has claimed to be the first restaurant to deliver personalized nutritional information on the back of its sales receipts with two-sided printing technology. The solution, based on software from Nutricate and NCR’s RealPOS Two-Sided Thermal Receipt Printer, was installed at Silvergreens' newly opened location in Santa Barbara, CA, where Nutricate is also located.
Nutricate’s software enables restaurants to communicate personalized nutritional information about the customer’s order. Silvergreens uses the NCR printer, which runs on Micros POS, to print the information from Nutricate on the back of each receipt, described as the “softer” approach to communicating about nutrition in the restaurant environment. And, as an additional advantage, Silvergreens’ receipts can also contain targeted marketing messages and promotions. This two-sided approach should help Silvergreens save up to 45% of its receipt paper, according to the company.
“While some in the industry worry that showing the calories will scare customers, we felt it would be an advantage,” offered Brian Rocha, Operating Partner of Silvergreens Restaurant. “Our customers love the receipt. Virtually everyone reads their nutritional values, quizzes, and coupons we offer. The bottom line is that our customers appreciate the transparency and have rewarded us with loyalty.”
Kraft's Downloadable iFood Assistant
Talk about convenience. Kraft, the world’s second largest food company, now offers an iFood Assistant bearing meal planning ideas for busy mobile-minded consumers, available for 99 cents through the Apple App Store. Unlike similar Web Apps that only link to external Websites designed to be viewed on an iPhone, said Kraft, iFood Assistant is a resident program that can be downloaded and installed on any iPhone and iPod touch. Kraft claims to be the first food or consumer packaged goods company to offer this solution, which seeks to leverage technology, popular consumer brands, and digital marketing techniques and extend the company’s footprint beyond the store shelves.
“People’s lives are becoming increasingly complex and they’re looking for relevant content and solutions to make their lives easier,” explained Ed Kaczmarek, Director of Innovation, New Services at Kraft (Northfield, IL). “We’ve worked with top interactive agency Genex, a division of Meredith Corporation, to create this dynamic iPhone application that answers the call not only with recipes and food ideas, but meal planning and preparation advice across many categories and consumer brands.”
Features of iFood Assistant include: 7,000 tested, searchable recipes with step-by-step instructions, shopping lists with nearby store recommendations and the ability to add custom ingredients, high-quality video demonstrations, user forum on recipes, and tips and shortcuts such as “Dinner Tonight” and “Recipe of the Day” sections. According to Kraft, the application itself has been designed as an agnostic platform with the flexibility to evolve with partners joining to provide relevant content, solutions, and tools that can be integrated into the application. Indeed, Kraft is currently looking for such partners.
Meal Planning from Apple’s App Store
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
POS & Peripherals
pcCashdrawer
Pioneer POS
POS-X
Barcode Printers
Datamax
Cash Drawers
MMF Cash Drawer
Data Collection Terminals
CipherLab
Datalogic
Mobile
Janam Technologies
Integrated Payment Solutions
Datacap Systems
Precidia
Mobile Printing
O'Neil Product Development
Receipt
Printers
Citizen Systems America
Retail Software
InfoTouch
Logivision
Screen Protection
3M Optical Filters
Thermal Printers
Seiko Instruments USA
HELLO GOODBYE
Star Strengthens ISV Efforts
Star Micronics America (Edison, NJ) has appointed Lisa Buchek to the newly created position of Software Systems Integration Coordinator, with responsibility for developing and maintaining strong software partner relationships throughout the U.S., Canada, and South America. Buchek, who most recently served as Star’s Inside Sales Supervisor, will report to David Salisbury, Product Manager for Star Micronics. She brings both technical expertise in POS applications and marketing experience to her new position, according to the company.
“The appointment of Lisa Buchek to this newly created position further strengthens Star’s commitment both to our VARs and ISVs,” stated Christophe Naasz, Director, Business Development, Star Micronics America. “Star is 100% committed to supporting the channel and having our products work seamlessly with the various software programs to achieve an easy implementation and use for end-users. Having a dedicated coordinator with the technical, customer service, and sales/marketing skills that Lisa possesses will ensure Star’s products are certified with most popular software applications available to the channel and that ISVs are able to take advantage of marketing opportunities available within Star.”
Star also announced that its parent company, Star Micronics Co., Ltd. (Shizuoka, Japan), has been ranked at #42 on the Nikkei 225 Index of the most stable companies headquartered in Japan. With its current ranking in the Top 50, Star jumped 37 positions compared to its ranking of #79 last year. The Nikkei 225 is the stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Takayuki “Blues” Aoki, President of Star Micronics America, commented: “With the ranking based on business size, profitability, financial stability, and growth potential, this further solidifies Star Micronics as a successful visionary in the markets we reach, including point of sale and audio components.”
Takayuki Aoki, President, Star Micronics America
Walsh Earns Stripes at Zebra
Zebra Technologies Corporation (Vernon Hills, IL) has hired Bill Walsh as General Manager of its Enterprise Solutions Division. Walsh brings more than 20 years of executive leadership in the enterprise software industry, including an eight-year tenure at People Soft, where he was promoted to President of PeopleSoft International with P&L responsibility for more then 25 countries, 1,200 employees, and approximately $280 million in revenue. He also launched PeopleSoft’s Professional Services Group and helped maintain year-over-year revenue growth rates exceeding 30%. Following PeopleSoft, he moved to Octane, later acquired by E.piphany, where he served as President/CEO.
At Zebra, Walsh will report to Anders Gustafsson, CEO. “Bill brings to Zebra an ideal level of executive experience in leading enterprise solutions companies as well as domain expertise in delivering supply chain solutions,” Gustafsson emphasized. “Bill clearly understands the needs of Zebra’s customers and our vision of delivering world-class solutions.”
Based in Oakland, CA, Zebra’s Enterprise Solutions Division helps end-uses improve the flow of goods and manage assets across the global supply chain. This includes tracking containers through ports, optimizing parts for manufacturing, and managing ground support equipment at airports. These automated solutions are based on RFID, location, and communications technologies from companies Zebra has purchased, such as Navis, Proveo, WhereNet, and Multispectral Solutions.
Bill Walsh, General Manager, Zebra’s Enterprise Solutions Division
Channel Factoid
STARTS & STOPS
3M Puts Heavy Touch on Pioneer POS
Pioneer POS (City of Industry, CA) announced that its reseller and software developer customers can now recommend Pioneer POS touch systems integrated with 3M MicroTouch ClearTek II surface capacitive touch technology for robust applications such as heavy use and public access environments. By adding 3M touch technology to its product line, Pioneer POS can now supply touchscreen solutions with all four of the widely-used touch technologies (surface capacitive, resistive, surface acoustic wave, and infrared), giving its partners more flexibility to customize and meet their customer's specific application needs.
"By now offering Pioneer POS touch systems with 3M's ClearTek II touch technology our products are better suited for demanding applications in retail, hospitality, gaming, healthcare, industrial, or kiosk," stated Michael Flores, Director of Business Development for Pioneer POS. "The 3M MicroTouch ClearTek II product is well known in the markets we're targeting with these enhanced Pioneer POS products."
"3M is very pleased that Pioneer POS has selected the 3M MicroTouch ClearTek II touch system to help provide a robust touch solution for these demanding touch markets," added Chris Tsourides, Business Unit Manager, 3M Touch Systems (Methuen, MA). "Its brilliant optics, surface durability, and operation unaffected by on-screen contaminants should enable Pioneer POS products to meet the challenging requirements of these applications."
Cost Cutting at Motorola
Sign of the times? Motorola (Schaumburg, IL) has taken further steps to reduce costs, including making changes to employee compensation and benefit programs as well as changes to executive compensation. Effective March 1, 2009, "to better align with industry norms," Motorola will permanently freeze its U.S. pension plans, preserving vested benefits accrued by employees and retirees but eliminating future benefit accruals. Motorola said it intends to continue to provide funding to meet its pension obligations to present and future retirees. Effective January 1, 2009, Motorola said it will temporarily suspend all company-matching contributions to the Motorola 401(k) Plan. U.S. employees may continue to contribute to the 401(k) Plan but will not receive matching contributions from the company.
The company also announced that employees in many of the markets in which it operates will not receive salary increases in 2009. In addition, Motorola Co-Chief Executive Officers Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha will voluntarily take 25% decreases in base salary in 2009. Greg Brown will voluntarily forgo any 2008 cash bonus earned under the Motorola incentive plan. Sanjay Jha's employment contract calls for a guaranteed cash bonus for 2008. His bonus will also be voluntarily reduced by an amount equal to Greg Brown's forfeited bonus and the remainder will be taken in the form of restricted stock units. These recent actions are expected to lead to cost savings in addition to the $800 million that was previously announced last October.
"The sustained downturn in the global economy requires that we take these difficult but necessary steps," said Brown and Jha in the company's statement. "While serving our customers remains a top priority, we are equally focused on our cost structure, and we will continue to implement appropriate measures to conserve cash and reduce expenses."
[Editor's Note: Elsewhere, Honeywell and Datalogic announced that they have reached an agreement that settles all pending disputes between their companies. Honeywell companies involved in the settlement are Honeywell Scanning & Mobility, Metrologic Instruments, Hand Held Products, and Omniplanar. Datalogic companies involved in the settlement are Datalogic S.p.A., Datalogic Scanning, Datalogic Mobile, and Datalogic Automation. The settlement agreement remained confidential but was said to include cross-license of specific rights, agreement not to bring suit for a specified period of time, and the mechanism for resolving issues that may arise in the future.]
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