Trimble Expands Functionality of its ThingMagic Mercury xPRESS Sensor Hub

Extensible Platform Offers Choices of Sensors, Communication Plug-Ins and Design Files for Application Specific Devices

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Sep 25, 2014, 06:30 ET

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced today the ThingMagic® Mercury® xPRESS Sensor Hub now supports network interfaces (PoE and WiFi) as well as GPS, enabling the integration of positioning services into solutions. The xPRESS Sensor Hub is a flexible development platform designed to enable customers to rapidly create cost effective finished reader products. Mercury xPRESS maintains a single unified software interface, allowing developers to consume diverse sensor data and acts as a "Sensor Hub" for a range of transport interfaces and communication plug-ins in a single platform. Delivered as an extensible development environment with reference design files and pre-defined, use case specific workflows, Mercury xPRESS also allows developers to move seamlessly across technologies as the use case demands.

"Choosing and deploying ID and sensor technology can be confusing and time consuming because it requires developers to learn multiple protocols and APIs from each different sensor they choose," said David Emma, vice president of Sales, Marketing and Engineering of Trimble's ThingMagic Division. "Our goal with the Mercury xPRESS Sensor Hub is to deliver innovation in a way that enables companies to build the right finished product for their specific use case efficiently and effectively. Companies can rapidly create finished products from a library of supported functionality that has been pre-screened for regulatory compliance and scalable to the next reader they need to create to support their use case."

The Mercury xPRESS Sensor Hub combines a microcontroller-based motherboard with the industry-leading ThingMagic Mercury6e Series of RFID modules and an integrated software development environment built on ThingMagic's Mercury C API. With the platform, developers can bring up a fully functional RFID reader in minutes; testing and proof of concept using sample applications from the software library can start almost immediately. Reference design files allow developers to select the elements needed for their solution and advance rapidly to application specific end product design and development. The Mercury xPRESS Sensor Hub has been screened for regulatory compliance, reducing cost and time to secure end product certifications.

"By using Mercury xPRESS Sensor Hub we were able to develop a finished reader using our own interface board in a very short period of time," said Jun-Mok Yang, manager, Overseas Sales & Marketing Division, Cygnus Information Technology Co., Ltd. "Within a few months our reader was ready for the market and we were able to offer it at a competitive price. This quicker time-to-market allowed us to develop a reader that worked for our customers but was not limited in scope and function by other commercially-available finished readers that are at a higher price point. It was only by using xPRESS that we were able to provide a lower cost solution within a shorter timeframe."

To support ongoing innovation, the integrated development tools, device drivers and application software of the Mercury xPRESS Sensor Hub can enable the development of a wider range of end products. Mercury xPRESS is also designed to support a library of sample applications. A native keyboard wedge over USB and Bluetooth interfaces and streaming data over network interfaces is available today, while other sample applications may be included in future releases.

Pricing and Availability

The Mercury xPRESS Sensor Hub is available now. For information on pricing and placing orders, contact ThingMagic sales at: [email protected] or +1-866-833-4069. International dialers call +1 617-499-4090.

About Trimble's ThingMagic Division

Trimble's ThingMagic Division is a leading provider of UHF RFID reader engines, development platforms and design services for a wide range of applications. ThingMagic develops products for demanding high-volume applications and provides consulting and design services to create solutions for challenging applications. ThingMagic's customers include some of the world's largest industrial automation firms, manufacturers, automotive companies, retailers, and consumer companies. Located in Woburn, Massachusetts, the ThingMagic business was founded in 2000 by a group of visionary PhD graduates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab. ThingMagic is "The Engine in RFID™".

For more information, visit: www.thingmagic.com.

About Trimble

Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location—including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

For more information, visit: www.trimble.com.

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SOURCE Trimble