Motorola, Inc. Introduces New Hand-Held Reader

Motorola, Inc. introduced a new hand-held reader, expanding its business-class portfolio of radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader solutions and complementing its existing industrial line of products.

The Motorola MC3090-Z is the lightest high-performance hand-held reader in its class – leveraging the ergonomic and rugged design of the category-leading MC3000 and incorporating the industry’s first dual-axis antenna for versatile use in retail, healthcare and business environments. The new MC3090-Z broadens Motorola’s portfolio of RFID solutions to allow enterprise customers to deploy the right products to get the job done.

“Given the level of user activity around RFID today – particularly in high-growth application segments such as item-level traceability in retail and asset management – interest in hand-held passive UHF readers is at its highest peak and continues to climb,” said Michael Liard, RFID practice director at ABI Research. “Motorola’s new MC3090-Z RFID hand-held comes to market at an important time, as with more users evaluating RFID in myriad markets, new requirements are emerging that must be addressed, especially when it comes to hand-held reader flexibility, form and function.”

The MC3090-Z offers the best combination of form and function in the industry today – providing reliable performance throughout the enterprise. Supporting Gen 2 technology, this gun-style RFID reader also provides the ability to scan bar codes – reducing the number of devices organizations need to purchase and manage. In addition, the reader includes Motorola’s newly patented omni-directional antenna enabling orientation-insensitive data capture. This capability results in longer and wider read ranges for more accurate, rapid capture of tag data. The MC3090-Z’s orientation-insensitive RFID data capture makes it ideal for item-level applications such as retail cycle-counting, inventory and asset tracking.

“Motorola continues to deliver on its promise to design new technologies that meet the specific needs of customers as they look to integrate RFID solutions into their existing business environments,” said Mike Poldino, vice president and general manager of RFID, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions.”With the introduction of the MC3090-Z RFID reader, Motorola is raising the bar in innovation by offering the industry’s only high-accuracy, high-performance solution in a small form factor. For our retail customers, the MC3090-Z addresses the growing demand for a flexible hand-held solution that is easy to grip and use all day – ultimately improving employee efficiency and performance.”

Until now, enterprises were forced to choose between two types of antennas: linear polarization for a longer read range or circular polarization for wider coverage. The MC3090-Z antenna combines the advantages of these two technologies into a patented dual-axis orientation-insensitive antenna. It offers a new level of read sensitivity for superior reliability and an expanded coverage area. In addition, by eliminating the need for alignment of the reader and tag, it increases user comfort and productivity.

The new MC3090-Z hand-held RFID reader, while designed for the carpeted space, is still quite rugged, passing some of the industry’s most stringent impact tests, with the ability to survive a four-foot drop to concrete. In addition, the reader can operate in a wide range of temperatures and is IP54 sealed to withstand dusty environments, spills and the routine wipe-downs required in healthcare and other challenging environments.

The Motorola MC3090-Z hand-held RFID reader will be available through Motorola channel partners and Motorola sales, and is expected to be available in North America in the first quarter of 2010 with a global roll-out throughout the year.