Alcatel-Lucent’s Tikitag anticipates NFC phone growth
Alcatel-Lucent has introduced a new consumer-oriented RFID product, the Tikitag, at this week’s DemoFall 2008 conference. The new system offers a new way to link offline objects to the digital world.
The new system uses tikitags, mailing-label sized RFID-enabled tags which can be stuck to objects or papers. The tags contain data that, when scanned by the tikitag reader, leads the user to additional product information online. For example, a tikitag-bearing business card could lead to the cardholder’s business website or social network page, or a souvenir’s tikitag could link to an online photo album of the trip that produced the souvenir.
Alcatel-Lucent is also looking to the future with the product. When the predicted growth of the NFC-enabled phone market in the U.S. occurs, the phones could be used to grab information off products bearing tikitags – a poster could send consumers to a site to buy tickets for the advertised event.
The Tikitag system will go public on October 1, selling for $49.95. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/contactlessnews-4.gif)
