PALO ALTO, Calif., May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan selected ID TECH as the recipient of the 2006 Award for Emerging Company in the smart cards market. This Award recognizes the company's excellence in providing smart card, magnetic stripe, and bar code reading solutions and its foresight in bringing out more innovations to cater to the growing market.

ID TECH offers a full line of bar code scanners and magnetic stripe, smart card, as well as hybrid readers. By focusing on all the technologies required by the retail segment, the company has garnered a larger customer base and at the same time, maintained its existing customer base by providing it the latest technology.

"Capitalizing on its years of experience in manufacturing magnetic stripe readers, the company was in the right position when smart cards were adopted," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst George C Paul. "It was a natural step forward to add smart card capability to its magnetic stripe readers to create hybrid readers and thereby, provide a migration path for the POS and banking markets."

ID TECH's range of readers is not only versatile but also rugged. It can read both magnetic stripe and smart cards for over a million cycles, making it ideal for applications that service hundreds of customers per day. One of the hybrid readers called the MiniSmart(TM) is also the smallest million-cycles, EMV 2000 certified smart card reader in the industry. It comes with EMV level-1 integral electronics, and with a depth of only one inch, it has the advantage of easily integrating into other devices allowing that device to have EMV level-1 compliance.

The company adopts a modular approach to product development, in which the products are designed based on the requirements and feedback from customers. These products, such as MiniSmart(TM), are also flexible enough to be further adapted to customer needs.

ID TECH is not only involved in the retail payment market, but also in other verticals including transit and casino. These applications require a tough and adaptable reader that can be integrated into various environments, types of devices, and gaming stations. In transit, the readers will be used for ticket verification and need to be durable enough to be used many times a day.

Similarly, readers in slot machines and gaming tables would also be required to perform flawlessly numerous times during the day. The market potential for these kinds of smart card-only and hybrid readers are increasing every day. This is especially true considering the numerous applications that are currently being introduced in the market that require such rugged readers. The major markets for ID TECH smart card (hybrid) readers include Europe and Latin America.

"With greater thrust on contactless technology in the United States, the company is trying to penetrate the market with its new range of contactless smart card readers," notes Paul. "The company's proactive efforts involve developing multi application readers that can read magnetic stripe, contact smart card, and also contactless smart cards."

Each year Frost & Sullivan presents this Award to a company that has demonstrated excellence in management, high growth, and positive social and economic impact on local and national communities and customers. The Award is based on numerous factors including the company's business development, competitive strategy, and leadership. This company has the exceptional know- how to take advantage of market changes through the execution of innovative strategies within the existing competitive landscape.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About ID TECH

ID TECH designs and manufactures a wide range of Automatic Identification Products & components, which include MagStripe, Smart & Contactless Card Reader/writers, Bar Code readers, CCD scanners, Keyboards, and Secure PIN entry devices. ID TECH supports its customers with standard products and custom solutions for the Point of Sale, Hospitality, Access Control, Transportation, Gaming, and Kiosk Industries. Corporate headquarters are in California with additional R&D and manufacturing facilities in Asia. ID TECH has Sales offices in North & South America, Asia, and Europe with distributors & representatives worldwide.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics, and demographics. For more information, visit http://www.awards.frost.com/ or http://www.smartcards.frost.com/ .

Contact: Stacie Jones 210.247.2450 Stacie.jones@frost.com

CONTACT: Stacie Jones of Frost & Sullivan, +1-210-247-2450, or
Stacie.jones@frost.com

Web site: http://www.frost.com/
http://www.awards.frost.com/
http://www.smartcards.frost.com/

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