New Contactless / Contact Smart Card Reader CardMan® 5321

OMNIKEY Launches Next Generation PC-Linked 13.56 MHz RFID Smart Card Reader


Walluf (November 8, 2005) OMNIKEY, one of the world's leading manufacturers of innovative smart card readers, offers an advanced dual interface smart card reader that combines the advantages of contact and contactless smart card technology in one single USB desktop device. Thanks to the newly designed housing as well as the enhanced contactless features the CardMan® 5321 is especially well suited for all upcoming contactless applications for PCs.


The CardMan® 5321 provides the ideal solution for end-users who currently use a contactless smart card for building access, as a corporate or student ID, or for transit or cashless vending application and who want to extend the use of their card to logical access solutions. One card can help to experience the convenience, speed, and security of contactless technology for PC applications such as log-on to Windows®, networks, websites, and applications as well as for the secure storage of user names, passwords, and personal information.


Thanks to the elegant design of the housing the end-user can conveniently present its contact less card as well as insert any contact card.


The CardMan® 5321 is based on a 13.56 MHz contact less smart card RFID interface that is compliant with ISO specifications 14443 A&B and 15693.


The reader works with a variety of 13.56 MHz contactless smart cards including Philips (MIFARE®, DESFire®, MIFARE ProX®), Texas Instruments (TagIt®), HID (iCLASS®), ST Micro, Infineon, Atmel, contactless JCOP including RSA operations, and many more.


OMNIKEY´s dual interface readers for PC's are the only ones which support not only the read / write function at various contact and contactless cards but at the same time exclusively support the read / write capability with HID´s iCLASS cards. Passwords and other data associated with the implementation of logical access for desktop applications can be stored on iCLASS cards.


The dual interface feature of the CardMan® 5321 economically supports end-user environments where both contactless and contact smart card technology may be in use. By emulating standard protocols, the reader allows transparent use of contact less microprocessor smart cards within the PC/SC framework. As one of the first readers in the market the CardMan® 5321 already supports the new PC/SC 2.0 specification.


By sharing the same state-of-the-art technology features of the CardMan®
3121 - OMNIKEY's contact smart card reader with USB interface - compliance with major standards such as ISO 7816, PC/SC, Microsoft® WHQL, and EMV 2000 Level 1 specifications is guaranteed.


Company names and product names mentioned above are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.


About OMNIKEY
OMNIKEY, one of the world leading manufacturers of innovative smart card readers, offers the most diversified product portfolio available on the market today. Having established a tight collaboration with key decision makers in the card manufacturing and software industries, OMNIKEY sits at the table of innovation. OMNIKEY's smart card readers for PCs can be utilized by any application including logical access control, digital signature, GSM authentication, secure banking and online transactions, loyalty programs, and healthcare solutions.


OMNIKEY, headquartered in Walluf, near Wiesbaden (Germany), is part of the ASSA ABLOY Identification Technology Group (ITG). OMNIKEY's regional offices for North and South America reside in Irvine, California with technical support in Atlanta, Georgia. The Asian Pacific operation is located in Hong Kong. Design, production management, and quality control of OMNIKEY's products are carried out in the company's two R&D centers in Linz, Austria and Erfurt, Germany. OMNIKEY readers are distributed worldwide through a global network of partners, including value added resellers, system integrators, and OEMs. For further information please go to www.omnikey.com.


About ASSA ABLOY Identification Technology Group (ITG)

ITG is the world's leading supplier of RFID components, products, solutions, and services. Comprised of a dynamic group of companies including HID, Sokymat, ACG, Indala, OMNIKEY, and Interlock-printoplast, ITG innovation spans the value chain of smart card and RFID-based systems for identification and security. Applications include physical and logical access control, supply chain management, animal tagging, national ID and e-passport programs, transport, and various industrial and manufacturing applications. ITG's Research Center in Denver, Colorado, focused on advanced research projects at the cutting edge of RFID and smart card technologies, and its SmartWorld Academy in Prague, uniquely position ITG at the forefront of the secure identification industry. ITG headquarter offices are located in Walluf, Germany and Irvine, California. For more information, visit www.aaitg.com.

ITG is part of the ASSA ABLOY Group, a Swedish corporation with about 30,000 employees and annual sales of about EUR3 billion. The ASSA ABLOY Group is the world's leading manufacturer and supplier of locking solutions, dedicated to satisfying end-user needs for security, safety and convenience.

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How To Introduce New Technology to a Staff

Introducing any new technology into a school can be problematic. The process described in this article, based on real-life experiences, will ensure the successful adoption and integration of a new technology tool - whatever it may be.
For our school, the time came to introduce a new tool, the interactive white board. So I designed a plan to purchase the board and then provide support for its successful integration into instruction.


Phase I: The Interest Level

There were enough funds in the technology budget to order one interactive whiteboard and have it installed in the computer lab. The point of purchasing just one was to determine the interest of the staff. The next step was to provide workshops for the staff and to provide time for practice using the board.
As I gave the workshops by grade level, I demonstrated how to teach lessons integrating the Standards of Learning for each grade level, K-5. Support staff for those grade levels also attended (e.g. reading, math, ESOL, special education, music, and PE). I then demonstrated lessons for teachers by teaching a skill with a class while encouraging the teacher to take over. This went well. Soon teachers were trying it on their own.


Phase II: Additional Boards with Portability for Sharing

Since many teachers were now interested in using the interactive white board, I approached the PTA about a grant to buy a portable board to use in classrooms. They agreed, and now we had twice as many whiteboards and a doubling of user level.

A grant proposal jointly written with the fourth- and fifth-grade teachers the following year got us funding for two smaller portable interactive white boards for classrooms to share. The year before, 13 staff members participated in a local grant, and we received seven LCD projectors for our school. This worked out well since an LCD projector is needed for every interactive white board purchased and thus provided a substantial savings.


Phase III: Placing the Boards for Easy Access

We placed the boards in three classrooms with LCD projectors – one for each grade level three through five. Other teachers could sign up to have the portable board moved to their rooms along with an LCD projector available for daily checkout.
This allowed teachers at each grade level to have easy access. Eventually some of the boards became permanently mounted in classrooms and we purchased additional portable boards. The current goal is to eventually have mounted boards in every classroom from grades three through five with portable boards to share for each grade level, K through two.


Phase IV: Continued Training

We gave Mini-workshops throughout the year to demonstrate new uses and provide practice time. I kept up my expertise by taking training in the summer. We scheduled a professional trainer for an onsite afternoon workshop with teachers to demonstrate the newest software version.
Each teacher got detailed directions with illustrations on how to set up the board, and after a little practice, many felt comfortable setting up the board. Some have trained their students to do it in order to save time in the classroom. In addition, when I demonstrate a lesson, I model using the interactive white board whenever possible for teachers and students.


Phase V: Outside the Classroom

Supporting the use of the board outside the classroom has led to the following.

• We always give technology presentations at PTA meetings. This year, teachers are going to demonstrate lessons to the PTA using the interactive white board.
• We used the boards for presentations at staff meetings.
• We held mini-workshops throughout the year.
• We encourage both administors and students to use the board for presentations.
• Support staff (reading, special education, math) used the board in lessons.
• We loaded software on the computers of teachers who will create lessons using the board.
• We made available Standards of Learning-connected lessons and tutorials on websites.
  

Summary: The Five Phases

• For any new technology, test the water for interest in its use before making multiple purchases.
• Purchase more boards with portability for teachers to share.
• Make boards easily accessible. .Continue training to bring new ideas into the mix.
• Encourage use outside the classroom to draw others in to use the interactive white board.

The process may seem slow, but now, after two years, we have four interactive white boards in the school that are used regularly. The PTA has planned fundraisers to support future purchases since it is a major initiative in our technology plan. Since interest is high, more will be purchased this year for classrooms. Providing training simultaneously as the boards are purchased has promoted the use of the interactive white board so that it has become a tech tool used by teachers every day—not a giant door stop gathering dust! It is an exciting time at my school with this new technology addition for teachers and students.

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Comcast Offers Excellent Solutions

Comcast Offers Excellent Solutions For Your Entertainment And Communications Needs

The multitude of new technologies on the market can be overwhelming and figuring out what services you need in order to take advantage of them can be just as hard. Everything from HDTV to broadband Internet requires knowledge about the technology and how to get access to it.

Fortunately, getting the services you need in order to get the most out of modern entertainment and information sources is actually quite simple. As long as you have phone service, high speed Internet access , and cable television, you can take advantage of almost all of the latest modern technologies. And, to make it even easier for you, it is now possible to get all of these services through one company: Comcast Cable Service.

The same company that has been providing excellent quality cable television service is now becoming the driving force in digital voice and high speed Internet. This promises both excellent quality and great savings for you, as well as an incredible dimension of convenience. The multitude of new technologies on the market can be overwhelming and figuring out what services you need in order to take advantage of them can be just as hard.

Everything from HDTV to broadband Internet requires knowledge about the technology and how to get access to it. Fortunately, getting the services you need in order to get the most out of modern entertainment and information sources is actually quite simple. As long as you have phone service, high speed Internet access , and cable television, you can take advantage of almost all of the latest modern technologies. And, to make it even easier for you, it is now possible to get all of these services through one company: Comcast Cable Service. The same company that has been providing excellent quality cable television service is now becoming the driving force in digital voice and high speed Internet. This promises both excellent quality and great savings for you, as well as an incredible dimension of convenience.

Comcast's oldest service, and also its most well- known is its cable television service. This is the same service that has endeared the company to millions of customers and make it a forerunner in television entertainment. What makes Comcast's cable TV service even better is that is has been updated to bring even more programming and more choices to customers. For instance, almost every Comcast programming package now contains at least 200 fully digital television channels, and packages like the On Demand Gold Plus and On Demand Platinum Plus offer nearly 275 channels (plus premium movie channels)! Comcast also offers some of the most modern television services possible. On Demand is a good example of this.

Included in every programming package, On Demand gives you the opportunity to get movies and other entertainment whenever you desire. You no longer have to wait for a Pay Per View movie to start before being able to watch the best entertainment, plus you can take as many breaks as you need while watching the movie. You also get access to high definition TV, or HDTV, which can make your viewing a whole lot more enjoyable.

When you also sign up for Comcast's digital telephone service, you can take advantage of great savings. You not only get a discount on the phone service when you sign up for more than one of the company's services, but you also get great rates for all of your calls. In fact, this digital phone service works by charging you one flat monthly fee no matter how many calls you make or how long you spend on the phone. This means you can take as long as you want talking to all of your friends and family across the country without ever having to pay anything extra. If you favor features like caller ID and call waiting, you will also appreciate this Comcast plan because it includes 12 calling features in with the flat rate.

Unless you like waiting minutes for even the most basic web pages to download, high speed Internet is also necessary these days. Comcast offers a great high speed service that makes every other type of Internet connection seem downright prehistoric.

Amazing speed and the ability to be online without tying up your phone line makes this service a great choice for everything from entertainment to business. Comcast even gives you all of the necessary software and hardware including a high speed cable modem , wireless router, virus protection software, online storage, and web based email.

If you want the best service for staying connected and entertained, Comcast Cable Service is the number one choice.

Satellite Television Offers

Satellite Television Offers A Degree Of Flexibility That Cable Cannot

When you ask a satellite television subscriber what they like about satellite television, flexibility will probably be one of the things they mention. Ask a cable subscriber the same question and flexibility will not even be mentioned. This is fitting with the type of technologies that each company uses to deliver programming. Cable companies use an underground network of cables that connect to each house. Satellite television uses a fleet of orbiting satellites that can transmit anywhere in the US. While getting a satellite into orbit is a bit more complicated that laying an underground wire, satellites are actually the easier system to maintain and the more flexible system to use. This is a huge selling point for companies like Dish Network and part of the reason that satellite television is growing quickly.

When you ask a satellite television subscriber what they like about satellite television, flexibility will probably be one of the things they mention. Ask a cable subscriber the same question and flexibility will not even be mentioned. This is fitting with the type of technologies that each company uses to deliver programming. Cable companies use an underground network of cables that connect to each house. Satellite television uses a fleet of orbiting satellites that can transmit anywhere in the US. While getting a satellite into orbit is a bit more complicated that laying an underground wire, satellites are actually the easier system to maintain and the more flexible system to use. This is a huge selling point for companies like Dish Network and part of the reason that satellite television is growing quickly.

Let's say you want to get good television at your house in a rural area. Can you count on cable television to provide access? Of course not. Cable television is pretty much limited to urban and suburban areas and is not available in any area where people are less concentrated. Satellite television, however, is available in rural areas. Take a quick trip through the countryside and look at how many houses have satellite dishes. Almost every house will have one of these small pieces of equipment which allows the inhabitants to get good television access. Let's also look at the opposite extreme. If you are looking for television service in a city, which providers can you use? Cable is likely a possibility (though not necessarily), but satellite television is also available. You will find satellite dishes on apartment buildings and other city dwellings just as you will find them in rural areas. This means it is possible to get Dish Network in both the city and the rural area, while cable television is only available in the city.

Let's also look at the ability to move your service with you. Whether you are moving to a new house or apartment or you have retired from your job and are looking to hit the road in an RV, you will still want television service. Cable television is tied down by land lines and the companies that provide this type of television each have their own little region of the country. You won't have any luck trying to move your cable service to a new location. If you have a package that requires a long term commitment, you will also be out of a lot of money in early termination fees and other fees. Dish Network, however, is nationally based and has no limits on where the service is available.

If you are moving, whether across town or across the country, you can take your service with you. You get continuous service and don't have to sign up with a new company or pay fees for early termination- one less thing to worry about during a move. And, for the RV traveler, cable television is not even an option. After all, how do you get a service that is based on underground lines while traveling across the country. Satellite television however, gives the flexibility to watch television even when you have your RV parked in the middle of a national park. As long as you have electricity, you can watch satellite television.

Satellite television is obviously more flexible than cable and thus offers many more advantages.

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