Interactive Print - Near Field Communications

CONTRARY TO “economic consensus” forecasts1 that are merely opinion averages, the United States will outpace 2007 with annual growth exceeding 6.5 percent nominal (3.4 percent real) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through the next two years. Foreign investment, immigration and productivity gains will more than offset exaggerated “crises” like sub-prime mortgages and rises in oil prices.2 Former GE Chairman Jack Welch advises the obvious: “Move up the food chain and stop complaining about the present. If residential ownership weakens, move to residential rentals.” The same applies to printing sales. Migrate to where the markets are hot and to the places and sectors underserved by our

Firstly, selling RFID to consumer goods companies mandated by major retailers usually breaks one of the fundamental rules of marketing “Never sell to someone who does not want to buy from you”. Most of the consumer goods companies in the USA see no payback from fitting the passive UHF labels mandated by retailers, indeed, they may have lost a mutual $100 million so far trying to do so, despite the RFID suppliers losing a similar sum selling tags and readers to them at a loss. The consumer goods companies are therefore quick to point out the technical problems and they use any other valid

FLYING CARS and colonies in space were once seriously predicted to be a reality by now. Closer to home, though, experts also said that Adobe Photoshop and the Mac would never be acceptable for professional graphic arts applications. Any attempt to predict the course of technological development amounts to an educated guess at best. Even once a prototype has been developed, the scale-up to volume production can be problematic. Often, it is an unexpected development that leads to success. Printed electronics, security printing and lenticular are three technological developments that may hold opportunities for commercial printers. Each is still a work in process to

Printed electronics is a term that covers printed and potentially printed electronics and electrics. It is the basis of an emerging $300 billion business embracing transistors, memory, displays, solar cells, batteries, sensors, lasers and much more. This new electronics will appear as adhesive tape, wallpaper, billboards, labels, skin patches, smart packaging and books because it will be foldable, conformal, wide area, ultra low cost, edible, rollable, transparent and biodegradable as needed. Yes - there are transparent transistors, batteries, solar cells and more on the way and Kodak has recently patented edible RFID on medicine. And it will be pivotal to the future of mobile

What are the killer applications for printed electronics? Which technologies are soon to be available in the marketplace and which are distant dreams? Is organic electronics the ultimate technology or does it now look as if inorganic and organic printed devices have a place? Are the traditional horizontal transistors the way forward or are the minority working on vertical transistors onto something? What are the crucial manufacturing technologies? The wealth of opportunity Concerning applications, Walt Bonneau of Cubic Corporation will talk at the world’s largest conference on the subject “Printed Electronics USA” in San Francisco, expressing his view that, “Printed Electronics offers a host