Data hybrid: Fujitsu’s GPS-RFID device

Talk about covering all bases. Fujitsu has unveiled a GPS receiver with a built-in RFID tag. You could also look at that the other way round. Either way, you have a device that can both track and send.

It has the rather uninspiring yet practical name of Tag Locator, which sort of masks its GPS abilities. This is first and foremost a longitude-latitude device, which can deliver accuracy within 3 to 5 meters. That kind of accuracy will be welcome indeed to those who find wide-range locators frustrating.

The RFID tag spills out its signal in a wide beam of data, bathing readers within 200 meters in all directions with its exact location. As long as the frequency is 429MHz, you’re good to go. The price: 20,000 yen (US$169).