Firm Poised to Boost Wireless Tracking

A Los Angeles company has figured out a way to make a radio frequency identification (RFID) system that is cheaper and has better range, the Wall Street Journal reports. New wireless networks could expand to cover entire warehouses, keeping track of individual items with cheaper radio tags. "I think this could have significant impact," a technology analyst says.

The new system is based on technology developed for NASA, and uses a grid of energy transmitters to power the tags. Many other systems use unpowered tags, which have a much shorter useful range, or individually powered tags, which can be prohibitively expensive. The company, Mojix, forecasts its system will be 20-25% cheaper than most others. (More RFID stories.)