This Week’s Product Pick

Firich USA (Fremont, CA) unveiled its Model AL-8500 touchscreen POS terminal with 1.6-GHz Eden processing for upgraded requirements. With robust aluminum housing (in black or silver) and fanless design (without venting hole), the AL-8500 meets the harsh operating requirements of restaurants and specialty retailers, according to the vendor. Significantly, the base of the terminal has been reduced to fit the tight space constraints of smaller establishments. In addition, two more USB ports were added and three RJ45 ports were switched to the back I/O board for greater flexibility. The addition of two front USB ports makes it easier to plug in peripherals during installation and service, early adopters have testified. Further, the new AL-8500 provides support for an independent dual display, 40-GB SATA HDD, and access to critical components through the maintenance cover. Optional peripherals include integrated MSR, 32-key programmable keyboard, VFD/LCD customer pole display, and 12-inch LCD second display. “Sleek and stylish, and packed with advanced features, the AL-8500 will deliver outstanding performance and enhanced business functionality,” said Elliot Wuu, VP of Firich USA.

AL-8500 from Firich USA

Worth Your While - 2010

NRF 99th Annual Convention & Expo
National Retail Federation
January 10-13
New York

RSPA Inspire
Retail Solutions Providers Association
February 7-10
Cancun, Mexico

Connect
Radiant Retail User Conference
February 24-26
Atlanta

Self-Service Expo & Digital Signage Show
KioskCom
April 14-15
Las Vegas

NACStech
Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing
May 5-7
New Orleans

NRA Show
National Restaurant Association
May 22-25
Chicago

POS Partner Invitational
Ingram Micro Data Capture/POS Division
May 26-28
Chicago

ALL IN THE FAMILY

DVR Package Delivered by Tatung

Tatung Company of America (Long Beach, CA) assembled its Triview DVR bundle for all-in-one surveillance needs in retail or hospitality settings. The bundle, which will go to market through the company’s distributors, includes the new TDR-3104-250 four-channel, 250-GB Digital Video Recorder with either four bullet cameras (designated TDR-3104-250B) for wall mounting or four mini-dome cameras (TDR-3104-250D) for surface mounting. “We are providing the full solution with all service and support,” RRN.Com was told by John Sherry, Tatung’s National Accounts and Marketing Manager for the U.S. and Canada. “We’ve created this bundle to make it efficient for VARs to wield solutions in this growing area.”

The Triview DVR features H.264 video compression and the Linux O/S. Capabilities include Quadplex (Live/Record/Playback/Ethernet), VGA or RCA output, and Export/Archive Video via USB. Display and delivery meets 120 FPS NTSC performance standards. CCD Cameras for both packages have been supplied by Sony. They provide day/night coverage with 36 feet of illuminated distance, using 3.6-mm fixed lens and 12V power.

According to Richard Becker, East Coast Sales Manager at Tatung Company of America, “The new Triview four-channel DVR with H.264 compression and network capabilities will be the perfect answer for small to medium-sized CCTV applications requiring local as well as remote viewing. This compact machine has all the features of much bigger DVR products at a truly affordable price.” Users simply dial into the Internet to watch their location remotely.

Bundle Includes Four Bullet or Mini-Dome CCD Cameras

Making Cents of Hospital RFID

Radianse (Andover, MA) introduced new low-cost, multi-use RFID tracking tags for the healthcare market. Small, sealed, and sporting one-year batteries, the Radianse tags were designed for tracking patients, small medical equipment, and rentals. Radianse puts the total cost per use at 10 to 40 cents, based on the tag’s price of $14.95 and cleaning and handling expenses over the course of 12 months. The new tags, which employ active RFID in the 433-MHz frequency band and WAN or LAN access points, will start shipping by February 2010.

For patient tracking, the Radianse tag fits into its lightweight, water-resistant patient ID band. In addition, the tag satisfies the requirements of asset tracking for rental devices and very small but critical items such as sensors, thermometers, and telemetry transmitters. Hospitals will embrace the technology because of its low-cost and convenience, predicted the company. Indeed, Radianse guarantees hospitals will enjoy measurable return on investment within 18 months, with the promise to make up any difference.

“We consistently hear from hospitals that they need a low-cost, long-life, and hassle-free tag,” reported Paul Tessler, Radianse Co-Founder and CTO. “So we committed to a realistic cost model and performance criteria to meet multiple tracking needs. This tag is easy for clinicians to use on patients and equipment, assuring no battery management issues and no need to deal with shells and other annoyance factors.”

Radianse Winds Up Its Real-Time Location System for Patients and Assets

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ALLIANCES

DiamondTouch Securely Fastened on PPI

DiamondTouch, Inc. (Grapevine, TX), one of the leading POS developers for the pizza industry, has embraced end-to-end encryption for payment processing through the Point-2-Point Cardholder Data Security Program launched last summer by Payment Processing, Inc. (Newark, CA). The strategic relationship comes simultaneous with the release of Marquis, DiamondTouch’s next-generation POS solution. With half of its sales to independent pizza parlors, DiamondTouch has long sold through resellers--who now face growing concerns about cardholder data security, according to the two parties.

“Marquis is the key component of our relationship with PPI,” RRN.Com was told by Tom Bronson, DiamondTouch’s CEO. “Up until Marquis, if customers wanted to have integrated credit card processing, our only choice was PC Charge. That led us into our relationship with PPI because they’ve very good with PC Charge. Very quickly, we decided to develop for their PayMover product with direct integration into Marquis. This gives us the ability to use encrypted swipe, which guarantees our customers end-to-end security.”

This month, PPI enhanced its Point-2-Point Security Program with the introduction of PPI PayMover Managed Payer Data. Offered at no cost with PPI’s PayMover hosted platform, this new product removes the need to store Primary Account Number (PAN) cardholder data at the merchant location, yet allows application developers to retain functionality supporting repeat, recurring, and standard transactions across all verticals. It employs tokenization and supports both credit card and automated clearing house (ACH) transactions.

DiamondTouch POS for Bubbling Pizza Market

Xterprise Earns Zebra Stripes

Xterprise Incorporated (Carrollton, TX) has joined the partner program of Zebra Enterprise Solutions (Oakland, CA), the division of Zebra Technologies that targets high-value assets and global supply chains. Xterprise, one of the RFID software pacesetters, has partnered with Zebra Technologies’ Specialty Printing Group since 2004. By joining the new ZES partner program, the company said it will add active RFID and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technologies to its offerings, thereby providing customers with real-time visibility customized to fit their needs.

“We’ve been a longstanding partner of Zebra’s and are excited to expand this partnership,” shared Jim Caudill, SVP of Marketing and Partner Relations at Xterprise. “We are eager to present our customers with new integrated solutions that the ZES partner program offers and expand Xterprise’s reach into more industries in the near future.” In particular, the oil and gas sector was called out.

“We are delighted to have Xterprise on-board as we continue to expand our ZES partner program,” added Bill Bulzoni, Director of Business Development for Zebra Enterprise Solutions, which draws upon the capabilities of Navis, WhereNet, Proveo, and Multispectral Solutions. “Leveraging the success of the ZES partner program will position Xterprise for new business opportunities and attract additional strong customers in the future.”

Jim Caudill, SVP, Marketing and Partner Relations, Xterprise

[Editor’s Note:  At press time, Zebra Enterprise Solutions announced that American Barcode and RFID also joined its partner program. AB&R (Phoenix) expects to exploit Ultra-Wideband in its core competency of securing the workplace.]

Code Corner

TAM Retail, the division of Lode Data Systems (Orland Park, IL), will celebrate its 30th Anniversary with the release of Version 10 of The Assistant Manager, its integrated retail management software solution of POS, inventory, accounting, and loyalty functions. TAM serves as Microsoft Certified Partner and member of the Microsoft ISV Royalty Partner Program. Version 10 of The Assistant Manager extends capabilities for specialty retailers in areas such as mobile line-busting, e-commerce, PCI-DSS compliance, and franchise data collection. Additional benefits include online ticket sales, membership handling, and donation automation for the not-for-profit sector. “No two retail businesses or organizations are identical,” mused Bruce Lode, EVP and Co-Founder, “so we are constantly learning and improving our suite of solutions according to needs that we encounter in reality, as well as thinking about where the industry is headed. Version 10 is our strongest TAM product ever, but we’re never finished.” In 2010, TAM Retail anticipates adding more features to support international operations, such as multi-currency and managing the importing of goods. 

Hospitality software developer SpeedLine Solutions (Lynden, WA) now offers new call center functionality through two of its partners, Stellar Restaurant Solutions and Delphis Software. The recent collaboration allows restaurants to offer patrons multiple ways to order--online, call center, mobile, text, and IVR--with seamless integration to the SpeedLine POS system. Stellar provides call center service, using their professional call center agents or the restaurant company’s own staff. For its part, Delphis Software supplies the necessary call center interface as well as an optional web-ordering site for the restaurant company. The SpeedLine OrderLink Gateway pulls everything together. “Through this new partnership, we can now offer SpeedLine users multiple ways to increase order value and revenues, improve customer service levels, and reduce their cost of service,” indicated John de Wolde, SpeedLine’s President.

STARTS & STOPS

Elo SAWs thru Windows 7

New IntelliTouch Plus technology from Elo TouchSystems (Menlo Park, CA) has achieved “Compatible with Windows 7” designation from Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, WA) for multi-touch interactivity. Based upon established surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) technology, Elo’s IntelliTouch Plus records two simultaneous touch locations anywhere on the screen with three axes of touch information, thereby overcoming many of the drawbacks of other multi-touch technologies, such as camera-based optical, according to its developer. Further, the pure-glass construction of the new Elo IntelliTouch Plus scheme delivers an excellent image and high light transmission comparable to single-touch IntelliTouch.

IntelliTouch Plus will be commercially available in early 2010 as screen components in sizes ranging from 17 inches through 32 inches for consumer touch monitors and all-in-one touch computers running Windows 7. In addition, Elo’s 22-inch open-frame touch monitor will ship later in the year. Elo also has offered its new Windows 7-compatible touch driver for current Elo monitors, which brings digitized gestures to basic single-touch functionality without the need for new hardware.

“Elo invented touch technology over 35 years ago,” remarked Mark Mendenhall, GM of Elo TouchSystems and VP of Tyco Electronics. “We’ve never stopped innovating. This new touch technology joins the extensive portfolio of Elo products developed to meet the changing needs and demands of our customers.”

IntelliTouch Plus Two-Finger Touch Technology

Kiosks Don’t Take Coffee Breaks

L-1 Identity Solutions (Stamford, CT) premiered new automated kiosks for processing driver’s license renewals and replacements, which account for more than half of all license transactions. The first two kiosks from L-1 will be made available to the public this week at the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS) headquarters in Jackson, MS. Six additional kiosks will be installed by the end of the month, with more to come in 2010. L-1, it should be noted, provides driver’s license solutions to 40 U.S. states.

“For us this is more than just technical innovation--these kiosks change the way in which we interact with our customers,” explained Stephen Simpson, Commissioner of the Mississippi DPS. “Automating the simple, yet time and labor consuming tasks of renewal and replacement will boost operational efficiencies while paving the way for reduced wait times, shorter lines, and more quality interaction between our staff and the public. We have promoted the kiosks to the public over the last few months and the reaction so far has been very positive.”

The kiosks employ customer-facing touchscreens, facial recognition for identity confirmation, credit/debit card processing for payment, and barcoded receipts. Collected data gets transmitted via secure, encrypted line from the kiosk workstation to the DMV host server. License photos taken at the kiosk are purged from the machines after they are transmitted to the central database. L-1 sells or leases the kiosks, and also offers convenience fee-based operation.

For License Renewal or Replacement, Step to the Front

Key Advertiser Links

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

POS & Auto ID Distribution
BlueStar
ScanSource

POS & Peripherals
FEC USA
Logic Controls
pcCashDrawer
Pioneer POS
POS-X

Barcode & Mobile Printers
Datamax-O'Neil

Cash Drawers
MMF Cash Drawer

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

Data Collection Software
Wavelink

Integrated Payment Solutions
Datacap Systems

Keyboards
Cherry Electrical Systems

Receipt Printers
Bixolon America
Citizen Systems America
Star Micronics

Retail Software
InfoTouch

Screen Protection
3M Optical Filters

INSTALLATIONS

Shoe-In for Janam

Janam Technologies (Woodbury, NY) will supply its XP30 rugged Palm O/S-based mobile computers to Bata Italy, one of the worldwide leaders in the manufacture and sale of footwear. Bata will utilize the computers to run barcode scanning applications throughout its network of stores in Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal. In addition to support of the Palm O/S, the XP30 Series was chosen for its color screen, long battery life, and omni-directional scanning capability, according to the two parties. Maxima, one of the premier mobility providers to the retail fashion market, developed the solution.

“Many companies like Bata have invested in barcode scanning applications for the Palm O/S platform,” related Harry Lerner, CEO of Janam. “These cost-effective solutions continue to deliver tremendous value, and with Janam’s XP Series, companies around the world are preserving their investment in applications and work processes. We are very pleased that Bata selected the XP30 to extend its proven solution with updated, more powerful, fully featured hardware.”

In addition to Palm O/S Garnet and 1D/2D barcoding, the XP Series from Janam combines numeric keypad option, user-accessible memory, NAND Flash memory back-up, USB connectivity, extended capacity battery option, and, in WLAN versions, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) wireless security. All XP Series products meet IP54 sealing requirements, survive drops to concrete from four feet to all six sides, and weigh less than 10 ounces. Janam also supports Windows Mobile and Windows CE through its XM66 and XG100 Series products.

Bata Will Deploy Janam’s XP30 with Palm O/S

Automotive Aftermarket Gets the Word

O’Reilly Automotive, one of the largest specialty retailers for the automotive aftermarket in the U.S., will step on the gas in transitioning to paperless distribution centers (DCs) by greatly expanding its use of voice-enabled technology from Vocollect (Pittsburgh). O’Reilly has more than 3,400 stores in 38 states and 44,000 employees. The company added to its DC network through last year’s acquisition of CSK Auto Corporation, and expects to establish significant numbers of additional new DCs to support its growing business, according to Greg Johnson, SVP, Distribution Operations, O’Reilly Automotive, Inc.

“Our productivity and accuracy levels continue to improve throughout our distribution operations with the use of voice from Vocollect,” testified Johnson. “Last year we processed over 96 million lines using Vocollect Voice. Voice has helped us to reduce cost, improve customer satisfaction and overall business performance, as well as achieve very positive return on investment. Vocollect also will help us in our continuing efforts to transition to paperless DCs.”

O’Reilly currently utilizes Vocollect Voice for picking in most of its existing DCs. All future DCs will activate their operation with Vocollect, beginning with the first group of new DCs, by the end of 2010. “Through five years of continued growth and expansion, Vocollect has helped O’Reilly achieve its productivity and accuracy goals across its network of DCs,” noted Joe Pajer, President, Supply Chain Solutions, for Vocollect, “and we are pleased that the company will extend its implementation.”

Vocollect Voice Ties into Major WMS and ERP Systems

Channel Factoid

Nearly half (49%) of companies currently using or evaluating RFID expect their budgets in this area to increase in 2010. Moreover, 100% of companies with rollouts in progress intend to boost their RFID budgets going forward, according ABI Research. Indeed, things look fairly rosy overall, with one in three companies reporting their RFID spending will remain unchanged for next year and only one in ten projecting budget cuts. As in past years, the overwhelming majority of companies rated “business process improvement” as the primary driver for their adoption of RFID. Second place went to “the need to reduce non-labor costs.” ROI timeframe also was deemed critical--48% of companies expect their spending to be recouped within 12 months, up from 37% last year. “Shorter ROI timeframe expectations are yet another sign of users’ growing confidence in the RFID business case,” proposed Michael Liard, Practice Director at ABI Research.

HELLO GOODBYE

Posiflex Promotes Doyle

Posiflex Business Machines (Hayward, CA) has reorganized its sales team. Doyle Ledford, VP of Channel Sales, has been promoted to VP of Channel and OEM Sales. Ledford joined Posiflex in May 2009, following tenures in POS sales at Panasonic, ParTech, and Century Data Systems. He replaces Tim Becerra, who has left the company to pursue other interests.

“We are pleased that Doyle has accepted this dual role,” stated Steven Young, Posiflex’s CEO. “His 23 years of progressive track record--from industry account representative, to sales manager, and most recently prior to coming to Posiflex, as Director of the POS Business Unit at Panasonic--makes him well-qualified to lead the sales function at Posiflex Business Machines.”

Bromme in Demand at DemandTec

DemandTec, Inc. (San Mateo, CA) has elevated Michael Bromme to SVP of Worldwide Sales. Bromme previously served as SVP of Worldwide Retail Sales and now assumes global responsibility for sales to consumer products manufacturers as well. He joined DemandTec in 2004 as VP of North American Retail Sales. Before that, he held retail technology executive sales positions at Retek (now Oracle Retail) and Tandem (now part of HP). Bromme also has specific price optimization experience at Spotlight Solutions (now Oracle) and IDeaS (now owned by SAS).

“During the past five years at DemandTec, Michael has demonstrated a track record of results, intimacy with our customers and solutions, and domain expertise in the markets we serve,” said Dan Fishback, DemandTec’s President/CEO. “I am confident that with those attributes, his leadership skills developed over the course of his career, and the support of his team, Michael is well-positioned to help DemandTec continue to drive customer growth and expand our existing customer relationships.”