Printed electronics label firm Thin Film Electronics (Thinfilm) has made a potentially critical strategic acquisition, leading to full integration with smartphones, by buying Kovio.
This move secures rights to the Kovio NFC Barcode, a near-field communication (NFC) protocol for printed electronics that is widely compatible with smartphones. The Kovio technology is supported commercially by the Google Android operating system. By combining Kovio's NFC technology with its own, Thinfilm will be able to ensure that its printed electronic labels will be able to interact with the 400 million NFC-enabled smart phones now in circulation; a figure set to top 1 billion in 2015.Thinfilm has announced that it expects to have developed NFC-readable smart labels before the close of 2014.
A centre for development
Under the €2.7 million deal, Thinfilm has taken over all of the US firm's technology, intellectual property and its 5570m2 manufacturing and development facilities in San Jose, California. Showing clearly where its business priorities lie, the Kovio facilities will now be converted into a NFC Innovation Centre, giving Thinfilm a base within easy distance of Silicon Valley's biggest technology firms. As part of the deal 20 former Kovio employees will now work for Thinfilm at the new centre.
Davor Sutija, CEO of ThinFilm, says: 'We're launching the Thinfilm NFC Innovation Center with a strong NFC team, significantly expanded intellectual property, and pilot manufacturing. Adding NFC to our printed electronic memory and sensor platform will allow the seamless exchange of information between Thinfilm's Smart Labels and NFC-enabled phones and tablets.'
The internet of things
Technologists believe that by integrating Thinfilm's growing range of printed electronic sensor labels with NFC connectivity supplied by Kovio, the firm may be able to lay a vital foundation for the 'Internet of things.' The ease and low cost at which printed electronic sensor labels can be produced means this can be expanded to include a wide range of previously 'dumb' items.
Kovio's electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags will also be added to the product portfolio of its Norwegian acquirer. This will reinforce Thinfilm's position in another future market for smart labels.
In October 2013, Thinfilm demonstrated its first commercially available smart label. It incorporates a sensor designed to monitor temperature in food packaging applications. In January 2014, the firm announced that it was licencing a second printed electronic label sensing technology to corporate security suppliers Brady.
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