by Terrence O'Brien on February 20, 2011 at 10:00 AM

In case you hadn't noticed, physical media are dying. Digital audio files long ago replaced CDs, movies are regularly available to stream, and games will download at the click of a mouse. There's no more reason to ever run to your local Best Buy . But there is still something alluring about physically touching your content source (just ask a vinyl fetishist). Jordi Parra, a Spanish design ...
by Terrence O'Brien on December 17, 2010 at 02:00 PM

Joe Wooller hates clutter. He's also apparently, incredibly lazy. The 28-year-old Australian father of two decided he was done with hauling his keys around, and underwent a minor surgery in June to implant an RFID chip in his hand. The chip is used to open doors to his home, unlock his car and fire up his motorcycle. Wooller still needs his keys to open the gas tank on the motorcycle and has to ...
by Amar Toor on September 3, 2010 at 01:45 PM

The same, privacy-conscious German government that threatened Google with legal action over its "invasive" Street View feature is now facing its very own security crisis, after a group of hackers recently demonstrated how to easily extract private information from government-issued ID cards. The hackers, who are part of the so-called 'Chaos Computer Club,' recently appeared on the German TV show ...
by Warren Riddle on September 1, 2010 at 09:20 AM

Vail, Colorado's reputation as a premiere global ski destination has been earned from almost 50 trailblazing years of excellent service, sprawling terrain and unrivaled entertainment for families and casual riders. Vail and Summit County now hope to further the evolution of U.S. mountain sports with a new app that intertwines up-to-the-minute snow and trail reports, various aspects of social ...
by Lee Bains on August 24, 2010 at 03:40 PM

One of the United States' most affluent cities is debating whether or not, and how, to track its students with RFID tags. School officials in New Canaan, Connecticut have engaged in talks with SecureRF Corporation, which has applied for a $100,000 federal research grant and is hoping to find test partners. Among the potential applications for the radio-frequency identification devices (like those ...
by Terrence O'Brien on August 24, 2010 at 10:55 AM

Warning to our Cleveland Switched readers: be extra vigilant about separating your recyclables. A new program being launched in the Ohio city will distribute 25,000 RFID-equipped recycling bins to residents. The tagged cans will be used to track how often a household takes its recycling to the curb. Fail to toss the recycling often enough, and you'll trigger a garbage audit. Your trash will be ...
by Matt Evans on August 21, 2010 at 12:00 PM

Israeli Teens who attended The Coca-Cola Village camp this summer were treated to a plethora of Coca-Cola products, as well as what was a normal, fun camp experience. Well, normal except for one thing: the different attractions around camp were integrated to work with the kids' Facebook accounts, allowing camp-goers to "like" different parts of the camp.
Upon entrance, each participant was ...
by Matthew Zuras on July 26, 2010 at 05:56 PM

Walmart, America's largest retailer and the world's largest corporation, will be placing radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on the jeans and underwear sold in its 3,750-plus U.S. stores beginning next month. The removable tags will be used to monitor inventory losses and shelf stock, but some people are less than happy about the prospect of carrying around a tracking device in their ...
by Caleb Johnson on July 21, 2010 at 08:10 AM

Chris Hallberg, a Marquette University student, has created the world's first smart coffee mug, or 'Smug,' which could make ordering "the usual" at your local coffee shop a breeze.
According to Read Write Web, the Smug is embedded with an RFID chip that stores a customer's order history and account information. Without ever opening your mouth or wallet, you can watch as the barista scans the ...
by Matthew Zuras on July 1, 2010 at 02:00 PM

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never progress from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over them, nevertheless.
We thought ...
by Terrence O'Brien on May 26, 2010 at 03:17 PM

Dr. Mark Gasson, a senior researcher at the University of Reading, has become the first human to be 'infected' with a computer virus. Gasson embedded himself with an RFID tag, similar to those that are used to track pets, and willingly loaded it with malware. The experiment was meant to prove that computerized implants carry dangers as well as benefits.
Medical implants, such as pacemakers, ...
by Matthew Zuras on May 20, 2010 at 01:00 PM

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money or technology, many of those products never progress from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over them, nevertheless.
We've never ...
by Caleb Johnson on May 11, 2010 at 05:27 PM

Have you ever ventured to the ice-cream shop for a few scoops of your current flavor du jour only to find that they're all out? St. Paul, Minnesota residents might never experience that kind of heart-rending disappointment again.
According to TechLand, local shop Izzy's Ice Cream has implemented a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag system for its ice cream inventory. Simply by visiting ...
by Caleb Johnson on April 17, 2010 at 03:00 PM

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As pacemakers become increasingly connected via the Web, doctors and patients must figure out how to protect these devices from security breaches. Some attempts include using ultrasound waves and developing 'cloaking' devices, among other techniques. But, according to Popular Science, Microsoft Research (.PDF) believes that tattooing the device's password onto the patient's skin in ...
by Caleb Johnson on March 26, 2010 at 07:25 AM

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Tired of waiting in line at the grocery store? Thanks to a team of South Korean researchers, your wait at the checkout might soon get a little shorter. According to Popular Science, scientists from Sunchon National University have discovered a cheap way to print radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags onto plastic film, rather than the more commonly used and expensive silicon. Ideally, ...