A cooking apparatus capable of reading or detecting coded information printed on or otherwise associated with food packaging is provided. Food packaging capable of being read or detected by a cooking apparatus is also provided. The cooking apparatus sets cooking time and cooking temperature as a result of reading or detecting coded information printed on or otherwise associated with food packaging. The cooking apparatus is capable of interacting with a user of the cooking apparatus to further assist the cooking process started as a result of reading or detecting coded information printed on or otherwise associated with food packaging. The cooking apparatus capable of connecting to a remote computer and server and receiving and displaying web pages generated by the remote server to further assist the cooking process.

A cooking apparatus capable of reading or detecting coded information printed on or otherwise associated with food packaging is provided. Food packaging capable of being read or detected by a cooking apparatus is also provided. The cooking apparatus sets cooking time and cooking temperature as a result of reading or detecting coded information printed on or otherwise associated with food packaging. The cooking apparatus is capable of interacting with a user of the cooking apparatus to further assist the cooking process started as a result of reading or detecting coded information printed on or otherwise associated with food packaging. The cooking apparatus capable of connecting to a remote computer and server and receiving and displaying web pages generated by the remote server to further assist the cooking process.

Messages may be passed between Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags using RFID readers. A first tag with a message intended for a second tag sends the message to an RFID reader. The reader then determines that the destination of the message is the second tag and sends the message to the second tag. The second tag may confirm receipt of the message by sending a receipt confirmation message to the reader for forwarding to the first tag, and/or the reader may itself confirm that the message was sent to the second tag by sending a transmit confirmation message to the first tag.

In aspects of RFID-based sensory monitoring of sports equipment, a number of RFID readers are positioned throughout a sports area to interrogate RFID tags that are associated with objects, such as sports equipment, used within the sports area. An object, such as a sports ball or protective equipment, can be set in motion along a trajectory within the sports area, and a RFID tag associated with the object receives an interrogation from the RFID readers positioned throughout the sports area. The object can include sensors integrated within a housing of the object, and the sensors are implemented to sense data about the motion and the trajectory of the object, as well as contact by the object with other objects. The sensed data is then communicated from the RFID tag of the object back to the one or more RFID readers that initiated the interrogation of the RFID tag.

A hybrid transaction card reader system includes a hybrid transaction card reader and a device for protecting the hybrid reader. The hybrid transaction card reader includes a magnetic strip reader and a chip reader. The device for protecting the hybrid reader includes an upper protective printed circuit and a lower protective printed circuit. The hybrid reader further includes a lateral protective printed circuit which includes a superposition of unitary printed circuits, the plane of superposition of the unitary printed circuits being parallel to the plane of the upper protective printed circuit and to the plane of the lower protective printed circuit.

The present invention discloses a type of integrated system and application method for dual-frequency multi-protocol multifunctional near field communication. A first inductive antenna is connected to a high-frequency NFC card-reader chip; the high-frequency NFC card-reader chip reads information of a high-frequency NFC tag, and the information of the high-frequency NFC tag is transmitted to a smart terminal by an ARM main-control chip through a Bluetooth module; the information of the high-frequency NFC tag at the smart terminal is transmitted to the ARM main-control chip through the Bluetooth module, is also transmitted to a dual-interface smart-card chip, and by matching with a second inductive antenna, is emulated into a high-frequency NFC tag; information of a low-frequency tag is read by a low-frequency card-reader chip and a third inductive antenna, and is transmitted to the smart terminal by the ARM main-control chip through the Bluetooth module; a low-frequency card-emulation control module, the ARM main-control chip and the third inductive antenna achieve functions of low-frequency inductive cards, deploying low-frequency inductive cards under any formats and protocols. The integrated system and application method covers high/low-frequency RFID applications, extends the NFC application functions, facilitates switching between the card-reader mode and the card mode, and improves quality of experience with NFC application functions.

The present disclosure provides a method of identifying a container number, including: arranging an image acquiring device along a passageway through which a container will pass, the image acquiring device comprising a trigger unit and a plurality of image acquiring units, at least two image acquiring units of the plurality of image acquiring units being adapted to respectively acquire images of the container numbers on at least two surfaces of a plurality of surfaces of the container passing through the passageway; acquiring the images of the container numbers on the at least two surfaces respectively by the at least two image acquiring units based on a signal from the trigger unit; and identifying the container number at least based on the images or data from the at least two image acquiring units about the container number. The present disclosure also relates to a system of identifying a container number.

An optical meter reader apparatus for reading data from a meter includes a housing; a housing extension connected to the housing, the housing extension having a flat face; a first slot formed on the flat face; a second slot formed on the flat face; and an optical communication module located within the housing and the housing extension and configured to exchange information with the meter using infrared waves.

Computer-implemented methods, computer program products, and systems are provided for performing Near Field Communication (NFC) communication with a first NFC device that includes a NFC writable component and an operating system that restricts writing to the NFC writable component and allows reading NDEF messages from a source other than the NFC writable component. A method includes receiving, by a remote server, a serial number of the NFC writable component. The method further includes generating, by the remote server, a unique ID based on the serial number. The method also includes storing, by the remote server, the unique ID with a name of the NFC writable component. The method additionally includes preparing and sending, by the remote server, a Near Field Communication Data Exchange Format (NDEF) message to the NFC device that includes the unique ID together with information to be shared with a user of the NFC device.

A device having multiple platforms for enabling a smart device, such as a smart phone, to access a URL having specified information. The device includes a scannable symbol or image for use by an image reader in the smart device. The device also includes a chip or tag that can be read by the smart device that also facilitates accessing the URL. The device can be embodied in a business card, keychain fob or other similar item.