OATSystems, IBM and Alien Technology Unveil 1st RFID Applications Deployed Directly on Alien Reader

Flexible Architecture Enables Distributed RFID Use Case Implementation

WALTHAM, Mass. and MORGAN HILL, Calif. - May 2, 2006 - OATSystems®, Inc., the recognized RFID framework leader, IBM and Alien Technology today unveiled the first RFID software applications to be deployed directly on a RFID reader. OATxpress 5.0 best practice RFID applications may be flexibly deployed based on business requirements on any combination of enterprise and premises servers and as of today, edge controllers and readers. This flexibility is critical to mitigating the risk of locking into a single architectural approach that may not scale past a pilot or may fail to address the requirements of various RFID-centric business processes.

Alien Technology's ALR-9800 is the first RFID reader to be validated for OATxpress 5.0 deployments by leveraging IBM's WebSphere RFID Device Infrastructure (WRDI). WRDI provides a standards-based, embedded environment for deploying distributed applications directly on readers and edge controllers.

"This is a major milestone for the RFID industry," said Scott Burroughs, solutions executive for IBM's Sensor & Actuator Solutions group. "For the first time, end users can deploy RFID software applications to enterprise-class intelligent RFID readers. This greatly simplifies implementation and ongoing management - enabling users to more easily innovate and implement distributed business processes that provide the key to maximizing the power of RFID technology to drive real ROI, on top of IT class middleware."

"The OAT Flexible Architecture that we also announced today, enables companies to deploy RFID applications on any combination of devices or servers to best meet use case requirements and mitigate risk," said Marc Osofsky, vice president, Marketing & Product Management, OATSystems. "With our latest release, OATlogic provides a single, graphical design environment to manage all RFID applications regardless of where they are deployed and OATxpress provides best practice RFID applications which are pre-configured to deploy directly on IBM WRDI-enabled devices such as the Alien ALR-9800."

RFID applications deployed directly on application readers are well suited to address use cases with local operational events that require rapid sense and respond actions such as pallet verification, shipping, conveyor routing, receiving and many more. The OAT-Alien application reader enables real-time business processes while simplifying implementation, ongoing management and reducing bandwidth requirements. OATxpress applications may be remotely provisioned to the ALR-9800 reader with no manual configuration required and the browser-based, user interface may run directly on the reader reducing network dependency for operation.

"The integration of the IBM WebSphere RFID Device Infrastructure (WRDI) on the ALR-9800-WRDI reader in 2005 enabled enterprise integration for end users using WebSphere," said Susan Pearson, vice president, Alliances, Alien Technology. "The deployment of OATxpress 5.0 applications on the reader now brings business logic to the edge of the RFID network, enabling real-time, local response to data, and the inherent reliability and efficiency of a distributed system."

The OAT-Alien application reader will be demonstrated in the OATSystems booth #326 at RFID Journal Live in Las Vegas on May 1-3. The OAT-Alien appliance is available immediately through OATSystems and Alien Technology account representatives.

About OAT
OATSystems, Inc. is the recognized RFID framework leader with software that empowers businesses to achieve competitive advantage from radio-frequency identification (RFID). As a pioneer in the development of RFID technology, OAT has been setting the standards in RFID for over half a decade and is responsible for industry firsts that include; the largest scale and largest scope of deployments, as well as the most innovative approaches to providing enterprise-wide RFID solutions. OAT's multinational client base consists of over 70 customers in retail, CPG, consumer electronics, manufacturing, life sciences, aerospace and defense. Headquartered in Waltham, MA, OAT has offices in Austin, Chicago, London, and Bangalore and is on the Web at www.oatsystems.com.

About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 90 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM Software offers a wide range of middleware and operating systems for all types of computing platforms. The fastest way to get more information about IBM software is through the IBM Software home page at www.software.ibm.com.

About Alien Technology
Alien Technology provides UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) products and services to customers in retail, consumer goods, manufacturing, defense, transportation and logistics, pharmaceuticals and other industries. Organizations use Alien's RFID products and services to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and security of their supply chains, logistics and asset tracking operations. Alien's products include RFID tags, RFID readers and related training and professional services. Alien's patented Fluidic Self Assembly (FSA) technology and related proprietary manufacturing processes are designed to enable the manufacture of high volume, low cost RFID tags.

Alien was founded in l994 and employees about 235 people worldwide. The company's facilities include: its corporate headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA; an RFID tag manufacturing facility in Fargo, ND; the Alien RFID Solutions Center, in the Dayton, Ohio area, and sales offices in the US, Europe and Asia. Alien is a member of EPCGlobal. More information about Alien is available www.alientechnology.com.