This Week’s Product Pick

Star Micronics America (Edison, NJ) unwrapped its TUP500 kiosk printer with compact footprint and support for small paper widths. The TUP500 features an industry-leading print speed of up to 220 mm/second and high reliability at an MCBF of 60 million lines. The innovative looping presenter prevents paper jams by printing the receipt in full before providing it to the end-user. This presenter also utilizes Star Micronics’ document capture technology to retract receipts left by the user, resulting in increased document security as well as a cleaner operation area. A new bezel (snout) option can be directly attached to the presenter to capture the user’s attention with programmable two-color (red and green) flashing LED lights. The TUP500 features adjustable print widths of 45 mm to 82.5 mm. With the addition of the optional Large Paper Roll Accessory, it supports up to 10-inch paper rolls for many hours of unattended operation. Drivers include Windows 2000/XP/Vista, WEPOS, Windows CE, XP Embedded, JAVA POS, Linux CUPS support, and MAC OSX. “The TUP500 kiosk printer is ideal for a wide range of applications, including public information kiosks, gaming, lottery, Web kiosks, and more,” said Christophe Naasz, Director, Business Development for Star Micronics America. For more information, click here.

TUP500 Kiosk Printer from Star Micronics America

Worth Your While

AIM Technology Leadership Summit
Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility
April 20-22
Chicago

Put RFID 2 WRK
RFID Journal Live
April 27-29
Orlando

KioskCom
(Self-Service Expo & Digital Signage Show)
JD Events
May 6-7
Las Vegas

5th Annual Partner Invitational
Ingram Micro Data Capture/POS Division
May 12-14
Phoenix

NRA Show
National Restaurant Association
May 16-19
Chicago

NACStech
National Association of Convenience Stores
May 18-20
Grapevine, TX

RetailNow 2009
Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA)
July 11-16
Las Vegas

VARTECH 2009
BlueStar
August 13-15         
Nashville, TN

ALL IN THE FAMILY

The Big Screen for POS-X

POS-X, Inc. (Bellingham, WA) debuted its XPC517 Series TouchPC with 17-inch LCD touchscreen display. The new All-In-One features POS-X’s innovative EZAccess clamshell housing, which boosts serviceability by allowing quick reach to internal components. Additionally, the XPC517 comes standard with 1-GB DDRII memory, 160-GB hard drive, and Celeron 2.8-GHz CPU—with the ability of expanding to 4 GB of memory and accommodating Core 2 Quad Processor.

“We designed the XPC517 TouchPC to provide an optimal solution for value-oriented customers needing a larger screen,” observed Karl Schoessler, VP of POS-X, Inc. “By providing strong baseline specifications, we ensure that our customers are purchasing an All-In-One that won’t become obsolete in the near future.”

In keeping with POS-X’s goals of “maximum value, quality, and performance,” the XPC517 comes with full three-year warranty, and can be purchased with Windows XP Pro, XP Home, Windows POSReady 2009 (the next generation of WEPOS), or Linux. Additionally, all accessories such as the MSR and customer display that currently fit the company’s XPC500 and XPC600 Series also fit the new XPC517 Series. For more information, click here.

XPC517 All-In-One from POS-X Features 17-Inch Touchscreen

Motorola EDA Targets the Middle

Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility Business (Holtsville, NY) rolled out its MC55, the newest member of its family of Enterprise Digital Assistants (EDA’s). Designed for mobile workers inside and outside an organization’s four walls and leveraging Motorola’s Mobility Platform Architecture, the MC55 EDA combines functions such as cell phone, two-way radio, barcode scanner, digital camera, mobile computer, and 3.5-inch touchscreen into an optimized, pocket-sized form factor. To best meet the requirements of workers in diverse industries, the MC55 comes in two models and multiple configurations.  Both run Windows Mobile 6.1 and utilize the Marvell XScale PXA270 520-MHz processor.

“The MC55 fills out our line of EDA offerings,” Sheldon Safir, Director of Mobility Computing, Motorola EMB, told RRN.Com. “Our MC35 represents the lower end, and the MC75 represents the higher end. The new MC55 falls in the mid-range. It’s small, very rugged, and lightweight—only 11 ounces. If you remember, we had a product in the line called the MC50, which was LAN only. The MC55 has evolved from that, in terms of offering both LAN and WAN, as well as GPS.”

Each of the MC55 models is designed to meet the needs of a specific type of mobile worker:  those inside the four walls, those outside, and those that work in both environments. The MC5590 EDA offers WLAN and Bluetooth connectivity for workers mostly inside the four walls, such as environments in retail, hospitality, and healthcare. The MC5574 EDA comes equipped with WWAN, WLAN, and Bluetooth to support workers in the field, including maintenance personnel and postal and delivery workers. In addition, the MC5590 and MC5574 EDA's are VoIP-enabled, offering the capabilities of Push-to-Talk (PTT), as well as the ability to support soft phone clients and integration with installed IP PBX’s. Coming soon will be an MSR that snaps on the bottom for payment processing, said Safir. For more information, click here.

New MC5574 EDA from Motorola EMB

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STARTS & STOPS

Securing the Keyboard at PrehKeyTec

PrehKeyTec (Lake Zurich, IL) has offered SecurEntry on all its MCI family of keyboards, providing state-of-the-art data encryption at the peripheral level. The new feature extends the company’s previous MSR encryption efforts in response to requests from customers in retail, banking, and healthcare, said Stephen Bergeron, President at PrehKeyTec, in an interview with RRN.Com. As a result, SecurEntry now provides encryption for NUMPAD “card not present” transactions, passwords, and any select field of personal information. PrehKeyTec provides three encryption methodologies for SecurEntry to meet specific customer needs, including Advanced Encryption Standard, Random Key Generator, and One-Time Programmable. The new feature can be added to any MCI keyboard and may be retrofitted. It only adds $30 to the price of the keyboard.

“We’ve started with our ISV’s doing integration, and now they’re making it available to their reseller base,” Bergeron reported. “We’re also working with our distributors to make the product available to their resellers. There are several OEM partners using it today and three or four of the credit-card processors in pilot.”

“As some of our competition has removed processors and dumbed down the intelligence in the keyboard, we’ve chosen not to go down that path,” Bergeron continued. “This allows us to do all of the sophisticated macro’s in the board, and now we’ve taken it to the next level where we use it for encryption algorithms going forward.”

Stephen Bergeron, President, PrehKeyTec

Barcoding Inc. Steers West with Navigator

Barcoding Inc. (Baltimore) will acquire Navigator Technologies (Dallas), its fellow enterprise mobility solution provider for vertical markets such as retail, healthcare, transportation, and manufacturing. Navigator will become Barcoding’s southwest regional office, providing service and support for customers in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nevada, and California.  Customers in that region will receive added value from Barcoding’s premier-level partnerships with industry-leading manufacturers such as Motorola, Intermec, LXE, and Zebra, according to the two parties.

Todd Carey, CEO of Navigator Technologies, will lead the southwest office for Barcoding Inc. “We are excited about the technology expertise and shared vision between Barcoding Inc. and Navigator Technologies for building and delivering enterprise mobility solutions,” said Carey, who has over 15 years experience in the wireless arena and has launched several IT companies.

“Navigator Technologies has been on our radar for quite some time,” indicated Jay Steinmetz, CEO of Barcoding Inc. “They have been establishing strong relationships in the southwest and Barcoding will now be able to extend our reach, offering enterprise-class solutions for field service, retail, GPS-based fleet management, and warehouse automation throughout that area.”

Code Corner

Appistry (St. Louis) launched CloudIQ Manager, described as the industry’s first cloud application management product to allow simple drag-and-drop of resources between cloud computing environments. Appistry CloudIQ Manager is the latest edition to the company’s fourth-generation cloud application platform, CloudIQ Platform 4.0, which helps enterprises “more intelligently deliver applications utilizing public and private clouds." The platform was designed from the ground up to help enterprises achieve success in highly-distributed cloud environments, according to Appistry, and builds on the company’s success with customers such as FedEx, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and GeoEye. As companies migrate their heterogeneous applications to cloud-based environments, Appistry CloudIQ Manager provides the needed single point of application management for the enterprise. Features include: extensible support for existing applications; application portability across the wide variety of private and public cloud environments; unified management of applications and services across cloud environments; automated management and migration across clouds; and open and extensible API’s.  “Enterprises won’t embrace cloud computing until someone helps them deal with the numerous applications they already have,” warned Kevin Haar, CEO of Appistry. “Today’s cloud is built for single application start-ups. In order for enterprises to view cloud as something more than an experiment, they need an approach for migrating and managing more than one application. We provide that with CloudIQ Manager.”

PARTNER PROGRAMS

A Date with ScanSource Security

ScanSource Security (Greenville, SC) has set the schedule for its 2009 IP Workshop Series, designed to train and educate dealers on the benefits of offering IP-based physical security solutions to their end-user customers. The two-day workshop will take place on the following dates:  March 11-12, Northern NJ; May 13-14, San Diego; June 9-10, Chicago; August 11-12, Seattle; September 2-3, Cincinnati; November 3-4, Dallas; and December 1-2, Miami.

More than 320 resellers attended the workshops in 2008, according to ScanSource Security.  Due to high demand and interest, the distributor has incorporated wireless education into each workshop for 2009, as well as Networking 101, an overview of video basics and access control technologies, and vendor product displays. The wireless module will focus on point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, and mesh network solutions. Participating vendors include Alvarion, Axis Communications, Cisco, DigiOp, Dotworkz, HID, IQinVision, Keri Systems, OnSSI, Panasonic Systems Solutions, Quadrox, Ruckus Wireless, Sony, and Tropos Networks.

“We kicked off our workshop in Charlotte and, again, are getting extremely positive feedback from our customers who find great value in the education and product information they take away with them,” declared Paul Constantine, VP of Merchandising, ScanSource Security. “These workshops were created to help our dealers learn more about the evolving landscape of the security market and to ensure they are on the leading-edge of new technologies, so that as the security market changes, they can remain ahead of the competition.”

For more information, or to register, click here.

Paul Constantine, VP of Merchandising, ScanSource Security

RSPA and Nashua Cut Ribbon on New Paper Program

Following its recent exit from the business of selling paper, supplies, and PC’s, the Retail Solutions Providers Association (Charlotte, NC) has teamed up with Nashua Corporation (Omaha, NE) to create the POS & Imaging Supplies Member Discount Affinity Program. “The new program streamlines the ordering, support, and shipment process by leveraging the resources of Nashua to the benefit of our membership,” explained Joe Finizio, RSPA President/CEO. It promises high-quality paper and imaging supplies products at competitive market prices that are “equal or better to prior pricing,” according to Nashua.

In the past, RSPA Services was the point of contact for purchasing paper and ribbon supplies.  Under this new program, RSPA members contact Nashua directly. Nashua will verify the RSPA membership and handle the complete transaction from order entry through delivery and invoicing. Following the completion of its credit application, Nashua will issue participating members an account number for placing orders. The company also plans to launch its RSPA-POS Supplies Resource Website for placing and tracking orders, as well as cross-referencing supplies for common POS devices.

“Nashua’s relationship with the RSPA dates back more than 30 years to the former ICRDA and later, the SDA,” noted Trevor Kelley, Business Development Manager at Nashua Corporation. “Much of what Nashua’s position is in the POS world as a high-quality source for Point-of-Sale paper and imaging supplies we owe to this long-standing and important relationship.”

Key Advertiser Links

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

POS & Auto ID Distribution
BlueStar
M-S Cash Drawer

POS & Peripherals
pcCashdrawer
POS-X

Barcode & Mobile Printers
Datamax-O'Neil

Cash Drawers
MMF Cash Drawer

Data Collection Terminals
CipherLab
Datalogic Mobile
Janam Technologies
Motorola

Integrated Payment Solutions
Datacap Systems

Payment Processing
Precidia

Receipt Printers
Citizen Systems America
Star Micronics

Retail Software
Logivision

Screen Protection
3M Optical Filters

Video Surveillance & Access Control
ScanSource Security

ENVIRONMENTS/PLATFORMS

SAP to SATO: “You’re Okay!”

SATO (Charlotte, NC) announced that its “SATO XML-Enabled 3.0” printing capability, offered on its CL Series, has achieved SAP certification with the SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure Release 5.1. Using the SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure-Device Controller Interface (AII-DC-RFID 1.0), users can print RFID smart labels directly from their SAP applications without any middleware or additional programming. This provides significant time and cost savings for users, according to SATO.

“With this certification, SATO continues to provide robust printing solutions that seamlessly integrate with the SAP Netweaver-based environment,” asserted Kaz Matsuyama, Managing Director of SATO International. “This will provide SAP users with more options to enable their RFID-based supply chain management (SCM) and supply chain execution (SCE) processes across the enterprise for both closed-loop systems, as well as to meet RFID compliance requirements. SATO has a range of RFID-ready printers that offer users an option to upgrade to RFID technology in anticipation of future requirements.”

SATO also launched its new MBi Series of mobile thermal barcode printers for label printing at the point of application. The new printers deliver print speeds up to four inches per second, feature SATO’s drop-load-go design, and provide communication protocols for USB, Bluetooth, RS-232, 802.11 g/b, and IrDA. They weigh approximately 16 ounces and feature the latest in battery cell technology. “The MBi Series of printers are fantastic solutions,” declared Gary Krause, Director of Marketing at SATO America. “The MB2i has a significantly larger roll capacity than the competition, the MB4i has the option of 203-dpi or 305-dpi resolutions, and both the MB2i and MB4i have faster inches-per-second throughput than our competitors.”

MBi Series Mobile Barcode Printers from SATO

Precidia Teams with 403Labs on PA-DSS

Precidia Technologies (Ottawa, Canada) has partnered with 403 Labs (Chicago), one of the Payment Application Qualified Security Assessors for the Payment Card Industry, to offer reduced-cost PA-DSS assessment for certain POS application developers using Precidia’s TransNet payment engine software on the POSLynx220 payment router. The focus of this new program is to benefit application developers whose software accepts cardholder data before passing it on to the POSLynx200, thereby requiring PA-DSS validation. 

Beginning in January 2009, as many RRN.Com readers know, processors are prevented from handling transactions from any POS application that is not PA-DSS validated, with application developers responsible for obtaining validation from one of the PA-Qualified Security Assessors. The Precidia/403 Labs PA-DSS Assessment Program will, upon request of an application developer using Precidia’s TransNet payment engine, provide confirmation of their PA-DSS requirements, and will offer an assessment, if one is required, at cost 50% to 75% lower than if assessed independent of the TransNet/POSLynx220 solution.

“As the PA-QSA for Precidia Technologies, we have validated each new version of the TransNet/POSLynx220 solution to PABP and now PA-DSS standards,” commented Brad Lutgen, Manager of Marketing and Business Development for 403 Labs. “We are pleased to offer this program to developers of POS software, who wish to leverage TransNet’s payment processing capabilities. This program will help these developers lower their overall development costs, while providing an effective way to comply with the PA-DSS requirements.”

“Having undergone the process of PA-DSS validation, we can understand how onerous it is for developers for whom payments is not a core expertise,” said Deepak Wanner, President of Precidia Technologies. “Although we believe many developers will be moving to offload 100% of their payment requirements onto our payment application, there will be many mid-sized developers who will be able to take advantage of this program to maintain and grow their business by becoming PA-DSS validated quickly and easily.”

Channel Factoid

Americans expecting to get tax refunds are filing early this year. Indeed, 71% planned to file by the end of February, compared to 38% of those people who are not expecting refunds. In addition to filing earlier, people expecting refunds are much more likely to file online (60% vs. 39%), another indication that taxpayers eager to get money back from Uncle Sam would like to receive it as soon as possible. This year, two-thirds (68%) of consumers expect refunds from their 2008 taxes. The majority of these people will use the money to pay down debt (48%). Others will put their refund into savings (39%) or invest in major purchases such as televisions or cars (11%). One-fourth (27%) will use refunds for everyday expenses, similar to behavior seen in 2008 and 2007. “Retailers planning to offer special promotions during tax season may want to consider rolling them out as soon as possible,” advised Tracy Mullin, President/CEO of the National Retail Federation, which conducted the survey in conjunction with BIGresearch. Interestingly, half of Americans will do their taxes themselves, either by hand (13%) or with computer software (32%).

HELLO GOODBYE

Reunion at RFID Global Solution

RFID Global Solution (Eldersburg, MD) has drawn together three leading lights of the RFID industry with the recent hiring of Diana Hage as CEO and Joe White as COO, reuniting an executive troika that includes Joseph Leone, President and CTO.  Hage joins RFIDGS after most recently serving as ODIN Technologies’ Head of European Operations and COO, while White joins RFIDGS from Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility Business, where he served as VP of RFID Business Development and Marketing.

Prior to its acquisition by Motorola, White drove RFID for Symbol Technologies. In that capacity, he worked with Ms. Hage, Director, IBM Global Wireless Services, as their firms built an estimated $400 million business in three years in RFID and Auto ID technologies. Earlier at Matrics, White headed RFID Product Management, where he worked with Leone, Matrics’ SVP, Professional Services, as they led the initial RFID deployments at Wal-Mart, Target, and other Fortune 50 enterprises, culminating in Matrics’ acquisition by Symbol for $230 million in 2004.

“RFIDGS is leading the industry with its innovative, patented software and hardware solutions for asset tracking and visibility, and its expertise in integrating diverse technologies such as active and passive RFID, GPS, cellular, and satellite communications,” declared Hage. “I look forward to adding my experience and specific market knowledge to this world-class team of RF pioneers and innovators.”

Diana Hage, Chief Executive Officer	Joe White, Chief Operating Officer