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Taiwan on list of Sun's new RFID research sites

Sun Microsystems Inc is considering establishing another radio frequency identification (RFID) technology research and development center in the Asia-Pacific region and Taiwan is on the list of possible sites.

Sun Microsystems has already established RFID testing centers in the US and Scotland, in addition to the one planned for Australia, Kevin Mayo, chief architect of the Sun Microsystems Asia Pacific Infrastructure Solution, said at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

The RFID technology is more sophisticated than conventional bar-code application technology, which can only enable the storage and reading of commercial products' names, prices and manufacturers, Mayo said.

The company's RFID technology, however, provides scanning systems which enable high-performance reading capability, allowing more information about the products, including place of origin, manufacturing date and shipment lot sequence, be carried in bar codes and be read as well, he said.

Taiwan is one of the three places that Sun Microsystems is targeting for the building of its second R&D and testing center in the Asia-Pacific region, Mayo said, adding that the company is expected to announce their decision next month or May.

Santa Clara, California-based Sun Microsystems posted a smaller-than-expected loss in its fiscal second quarter as the computer and software maker realized benefits from controlling costs as well as the general improvement in high-tech spending by businesses, the company said in January.

Last year, Sun shifted its strategy beyond its own Sparc microprocessors and Solaris operating system. In addition to its own hardware and software, it now offers systems running the inexpensive Linux operating system on chips from Intel Corp.
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