After the usual problems with local customs and DHL related to purchases outside the EU, we finally received PhidgetRFID Kit. I am interested in this because it’s a cheap and easy way of trying out BizTalk 2006 R2’s support for RFID (the BizTalk-specific adapter is not out yet, however). I downloaded and installed .Net 2.0’s class library, followed by a simple sample I got from Developer.com (“RFID Programming Made Simple and Cheap” by Bradley Jones), and got it working immediatly. Really great developer experience, out of the box!

RFID is a very interesting techology, even if it’s not mature yet as I hope it will be in the future, and the ability to easily make the bridge from the hardware to the software/applications side is very welcome for those of us working in the integration space.

As a final note, Phidgets has software to allow the integration of their products (which also include sensors, servos, LCD’s, etc.) with Microsoft’s Robotics Studio. The products this company makes, so easily integrated with current technologies, make it a perfect adult toy, in the same vein as Lego’s Mindstorms. 🙂