Radio Tags Face Technical Hurdles, Deadlines
Reuters reports, "Small tags that use radio frequencies to gather information are turning up as a potential replacement to the UPC code that keeps tabs on consumer goods, and technology companies are betting they will emerge as the next hot thing. But that may not happen any time soon, analysts say, because radio frequency identification tags still don't work that well. The tags fall far below the 99 percent reliability rate of UPC tags because of the difficulty of transmitting clean radio signals. At 20 cents to 30 cents apiece, plus the cost of altering packaging lines to accommodate them, the tags are also too expensive for most companies to use."