RFID Takes The Fun Out Of Rube Goldberg Machines

Meant to illustrate "designerly applications of RFID," the Nearness concept from London design firm Berg also illustrates how to strip all of the fun out of Rube Goldberg machines. More »

Freecom's 2TB Hard Drive Secure Keeps Data 'Safe' with RFID

With a name that sounds like it's gone through Google Translate repeatedly, the team behind Freecom's Hard Drive Secure must've put all their energy into the super-dee-duper RFID cards keeping your data safe. 'Cause RFID is absolutely not defeatable, right? More »

Apple's Future iPhone Patents Show Fingerprint ID For Different Gestures, Plus More

MacRumors found three interesting patents that point to various new interaction techniques. The most interesting is the fingerprint ID directly on the screen so that the iPhone can see which finger you're using and accept gestures appropriately. More »

Samsung's Animated, Flexible OLED Passport Shown On Video

Announced last year, this technology sounded more than a little bit pie-in-the-sky. A flexible OLED passport? With video capabilities? And it's powered wirelessly? Yet here it is, captured in full sight, on video. More »

Nokia Developing Wireless, Accessory-Free Ambient Charging

Engineers at Nokia have hatched a plan for a system that'll charge phones using nothing more than ambient electromagnetic radiation, or, as you and I might put it, electricity sucked from thin air. More »

Nabaztag's RFID Mirror Does as Your Gadgets Command

The Nabaztag, known for reading you the news and playing back podcasts, has come out with a new kind of reader: The Violet Mirror RFID reader. More »

iPhone Prototype Makes Excellent Use of RFID

What could you do with an iPhone equipped with an RFID reader? A whole lot. But this clip shows the possibilities of just one fuction: Associating everyday objects with video. More »

Scary Video: RFID Passports Secretly Copied on a Lovely Sunday Drive

If you have an RFID-lojacked passport but don't keep it in a faraday cage wallet, this video of Chris Paget's war-driving exploits—plucking information off them from afar—should make you think real hard about it. More »

Crazy RFID-Enabled Poker Table Knows Every Card in the Deck

Australian Andrew Milner built a poker table equipped with RFID chips for every single card and HD cameras to track every movement. His setup can even tell where cards lie in a full, vertical deck. More »

Hertz Connect Car-On-Demand Service Starts in NYC With iPod and RFID Tricks

Hertz is jumping into Zipcar's territory with its new Connect service, offering short-term rentals via membership for young urban folk to load up on gourmet groceries or Swedish particle board furniture. More »

Marathon to SMS Those Too Lazy to Run In It

I've come to the conclusion that despite childhood fantasies, I will never be passionate or self-loathing enough to run a marathon. However, I could track a friend via SMS.

This Robot Wants Your Money, Jerks

Here in America, we use paper to pay for things—maybe plastic if we're lucky. But over in Japan, wireless RFID is gradually becoming the rage. And this NEC robot supports the trend of paying for something without feeling like you're actually paying for something. More »

Violet Mir:ror is USB RFID Enhanced-Reality Gizmo for Your Gadgets

You won't be chanting "Mir:ror Mir:ror, on my desk" rhymes if you buy Mir:ror and want it to tell you some interesting info: instead you'll be waving your possessions over its USB-connected sensor, whereby small RFID stickers ID the objects, and prompt your computer to display enhanced-reality style info. For example, wave your brolly near it and get a weather forecast, or your TV remote to get tonight's schedule. So... it's kinda weird, but sounds strangely compelling. Which is perhaps no surprise when you learn it's made by Violet, who also bring us the weird-but-interesting animated internet "buddy" Nabaztag. More »

GE's Battery-Free Sensor is a Breakthrough in RFID Technology

GE's new battery-free sensor could be just the kick in the pants RFID needs to start living up to its potential. The platform uses a conventional RFID tag coated with a chemically or biologically sensitive film that draws power wirelessly from a handheld reading device. Naturally, eliminating on-board batteries means that manufacturers can make smaller sensors (as you can see in the image above) at a lower cost. So, with any luck, this technology will lead to new tracking and info-swapping applications across a wider range of industries. [Gizmag]

NY Driver's License Embedded With RFID: Doubles as a Passport

New York is joining Washington State and North Carolina by offering motorists the option to purchase an Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) with an embedded RFID chip. The license will enable travelers to pass in and out of Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean without having to use a traditional passport. The DMV also notes that no personal information is stored on the chip, just an identification number—so paranoid travelers should rest easy...unless they are lying (remember, the government watches every move you make). All-in-all, spending an extra $30 for the enhanced license seems like a pretty sweet deal when you consider that a passport runs about $150 these days. [DMV via CNET via Jalopnik]

Amish Farmers Fight Government to Battle Bovine Mark of the Beast

Generally, the government doesn't meddle too much in Amish affairs—it doesn't make them educate children after the eighth grade, for instance, 'cause of the First Amendment and all that. So it's kind of surprising to see many Amish threaten to quit farming in a battle with the government over lojacking their livestock with the Mark of the Beast. More »

Verayo RFID Chips Use "Electronic DNA" to Make Them "Unclonable"

Here's a challenge to hackers everywhere if I've ever heard one—a company named Verayo claims to have created an RFID chip that's completely unclonable thanks to a type of electronic DNA technology called Physical Unclonable Functions (PUF). Unlike basic passive RFID chips, where data can be easily copied from one chip to another, Verayo's PUF-fy RFID chips use a series of challenge-and-response pairs to make counterfeiting nigh impossible (or so they say). More »

Tokyo's Robotic Bike Parking Garage is Awesome

In Tokyo, a lot of people ride bikes. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot, as in more people commute by bike in Tokyo than do in all of the United States. All those bikes need somewhere to go while people are at work, if they use them to commute. The solution? A gigantic, robotic, underground bike parking garage that utilizes RFID. More »

French Train Operator Trials RFID Payment Card with USB Connection

No matter the fuss about RFID hacking, France's national train operator SNCF is trialing a single-user RFID payment system for journeys on its network. The Weneo card is no flimsy card with a simple embedded chip however: it's a thick gizmo with 4GB aboard and a USB plug. Shoving it into a PC takes the user directly to SNCF's website, where they can charge up the card's credit. Sounds all very groovy, but since the card also contains a chunk of personal data, like status as a student or senior citizen or "amount of money the cardholder has available for purchases" (why the heck is that there?) it strikes me as something that'd be pretty worrying to lose/get hacked. On trial for 1,000 users currently. [RFIDJournal via Nowhereelse—in French]

Credit Card Companies Bully Discovery, Mythbusters Into Axing Segment on RFID Vulnerabilities

Speaking to an audience at the recent HOPE hackercon event, Mythbusters' Adam Savage describes a harrowing conference call in which most, if not all of the big name credit card companies bullied the Discovery Channel into axing a show involving RFID vulnerabilities. Adam noted that he got chills just thinking about it and claims that Tory still gets "white" when describing the conversation. I suppose anyone would feel a little intimidated (and probably pee their pants a little) when faced by the combined legal power of some of the most powerful businesses in the world. [Wired via Boing Boing]

Mexico's Rich Embedding GPS-Assisted RFID Tags Under Their Skin In Case of Kidnapping

Mexico has a pretty serious kidnapping problem—so serious that there is now a market for a $4,000 RFID implant procedure (plus a $2,200 annual fee) that promises to help track victims down. The system uses an implanted capsule under the skin that talks to an external GPS transmitter that you'll need to be kidnapped with in order to beam your location to the folks at Xega, who are selling the service. Anyone else see a gigantic hole in this setup? More »

Automated Japanese Mausoleum Delivers Loved Ones While You Wait

The aging Japanese population presents a troubling problem when it comes burying loved ones. There's simply not enough room, and the room that is available costs about $20,000, according to Trends in Japan. So leave it to the Japanese to figure out a way to address the problem with a technological twist. Like a data tape-retrieving robot, Nichiryoku's interactive family plot system retrieves cremated remains from an underground vault and displays them to you in a private prayer area, courtesy of an RFID key. And yes, there's a series of promotional videos, complete with voices beyond the grave. Only in Japan, but unsurprising given the fact that QC codes adorn traditional grave stones already. More »

The World's First Webmail Service Using Live Snails

If you thought the post office was slow, get a load of this Real Snail Mail project. Created by the aptly titled Boredom Research team for the SIGGRAPH 2008 Slow Art Exhibition, this snail mail service uses live snails to deliver your email messages via RFID chips planted on the shell. When you compose an email via their website, it will be delivered to one of three "snail agents" who wander aimlessly around a tank. If it should slither within range of a drop off point, the data will be collected wirelessly from the snail and delivered to the recipient. More »

E-Passports Can Be Hacked and Cloned in Minutes

Tests conducted for the UK's Times Online have concluded that the new high-tech e-passports being distributed around the world can be hacked and cloned within minutes. A computer researcher proved it by cloning the chips in two British passports and then implanting digital images of Osama bin Laden and a suicide bomber. Both passports passed as genuine by UN approved passport reader software. The entire process took less than an hour. More »

Plexidor is Automatic Star Trek-Like Door for Your Pets (and Only Yours)

Now, if this door makes the classic Pphssshshm Star Trek door noise when it opens and shuts, the manufacturers are onto a winner. It sounds like a neat solution for dogs and cats that like to roam: you pop a weatherproof RFID tag in their collar, and when they approach the Plexidor pet door it automatically slides up to let your pets in or out. Its safety mechanism means it won't guillotine your pet if they dawdle, and it shuts automatically so you only get your animals in your home. It's made of the same stuff as football helmets, so it should withstand some tough weather, and it's available now for between $130 and $800, depending on features and size. [Electronic House]

Chinese Olympics Tickets to Include Your Passport Info, Home Address on RFID Chip

Anyone attending the Olympics in Beijing this summer is going to find something unexpected embedded in their tickets: their passport information, home address and email address. All of these details will be nicely embedded in an RFID chip in each ticket. The move is designed to curb counterfeiting tickets in the counterfeit-happy country, but it certainly raises some privacy alarms. More »

The Best Way To Break RFIDs: Smash 'Em

Over the next decade, we're bound to see RFID chips in more and more involuntary applications...which is a scary proposition for a technology that has been successfully read from 69 feet away. But just because, say, your credit card company wants you to use RFID, it doesn't mean you have to comply. Instructables ran through the best ways to deactivate RFIDs in passports and credit cards without the appearance of tampering. Their verdict? A hammer. More »

Ladybag Idea Uses RFID to Tell You If You've Forgotten Anything

In the words of the Conchords, a team of Canadian students just wanted to do something special for the lay-deez of the world. And so they came up with the Ladybag concept. It's a smart bag that uses RFID technology to ensure that you leave the house with those three staples you need in the modern world: mobile; keys; and wallet. More »

RFID Credit Cards Can Be Hacked With $8 Worth of Stuff

Xeni of Boing Boing, Boing Boing TV and internet fame shows us that anyone—including the shady looking dude behind you in line—can hack an RFID-enabled credit card for just $8 worth of equipment. All it takes is $8 and a trip to eBay to get a reader, which you can then take and flail around to read in people's info. With their name, credit card number and expiration date, you can go online and get to shopping. Scary? Yes. But you can get around this hack if your wallet is made out of stainless steel or any similar material that won't jab you in the ass when you sit down. [Boing Boing]

PDA/Tablet Concept Babysits Old People

Hey, old people have technological needs too. Or so this concept would have us believe. The idea behind this tablet/pda-ish device is that it uses RFID tracking technology toremind the elderly when to take their meds, when food in the refrigerator goes bad, and what to get at the store to meet nutritional requirements. But if my grandparents' foray into technology is any indication, this device would do nothing but baffle the elderly mind. [Yanko Design] More »

Gadget-Packed Ford "Work Solutions" Truck Knows Where Your Tools Are

When I imagine surly construction workers like my uncle hauling tools and concrete and porta potties around, trucks loaded up with schnazzy gadgetry is not what I picture. But that's exactly what Ford (and Microsoft!) see. Their "Work Solutions" concept isn't even entirely bullshit, either. The feature I worker think dudes would find really useful is Tool Link, an RFID-based tool tracker system—add tags to your tools, and the bed scanner lets you know if something is missing. More »

Brando Hard Drive Enclosure Is Serious About Security, Protects Your Data With RFID Key

The Stysen E08 2.5" hard drive enclosure is designed to add an extra layer of protection to your sensitive data: RFID activation. By activating the RFID key near the box you can arm or disarm the on-board encryption, making stored data useful to you and useless to a thief. Sounds pretty cunning, especially the feature that means if it's locked and connected to a new computer, it appears as a virgin disk ready for formatting.