Alien Technology Introduces Three New Higgs4 IC-Based Inlays to the Rapidly Growing Retail Market

Alien Technology introduced three new UHF Class 1 Gen 2 inlays that have been designed to uniquely address growing challenges faced by the retail market. All three inlays are based on the Higgs4 IC that offers performance leading features for mass-market applications including optional pre-encoded multi-chip vendor serialization and Alien’s unique mass-encoding BlastWrite and QuickWrite capabilities.

GT ALN-9728 is a 30mm x 50mm (1.97” x 1.18”) garment tag specifically designed for use in hang-tags, joker labels and other tags used in the apparel and retail environment. The inlay is tuned for use on hanging garments and tightly packed goods on shelves with a form factor specifically designed for garment labels. This tag is tested and profiled by the University of Arkansas for use in category A (denim), category B (polybag apparel) and category D (hanging apparel). This tag is available in a large variety of orientations and web widths.

HiScan ALN-9720 is a unique small-form factor tag. At 40mm x 15mm (1.56” x 0.61”), this compact inlay is designed for the most challenging retail and apparel usage. The tag is particularly effective with very low-power UHF sources such as handheld readers (that typically transmit 25 percent the power of most enterprise class fixed readers) or other lower-power readers. This increases opportunity for successful reads and increases read-rates when rapid hand movement would normally be problematic. This is also effective when many tags are within close proximity to each other.

“The ‘GT’ and ‘HiScan’ tags are designed to solve specific warehouse and retail show floor challenges for a variety of apparel and consumer goods,” said Mike Frieswyk, Alien Technology, senior vice president of sales and marketing. “The GT tag hits the apparel sweet spot with a ‘30×50’ form-factor and University of Arkansas profiled performance, while the HiScan tag solves the real-world case where lower power handheld RFID readers are used on tightly packed apparel.”

Additionally, BAT ALN-9770 is a larger 82mm x 32mm tag with an exclusive design for use with challenging metal or fluid filled containers. The tag has been exhaustively tested on automotive batteries and designed for optimal performance in similar style applications.

“As the categories of products tagged by RFID expand, certain products have previously been impractical or inefficient to tag,” said Frieswyk. “The BAT tag is an example that extends the RFID return-on-investment to challenging products such as stacked automotive batteries on pallets in warehouses or on the retail floor.”

All three tags are available now for volume ordering and will be exhibited at RFID Journal LIVE April 30-May 2, 2013, in Orlando, FL, at the Alien Booth (326).