Symbol technologies introduces peripheral products

These products are ideal for retailers wishing to advance their wireless networks for greater mobility, connectivity and security.

The Spectrum24 Mobility Server is an enterprise-class Kerberos KDC (Key Distribution Center) that facilitates client authentication and dynamic encryption key distribution. The Kerberos wireless security implementation from Symbol is perfect for devices such as wireless mobile point-of-sale units roaming around the retail environment. It allows retailers to install local authentication services at every store location, and eliminates the costly requirement to maintain wireless security centrally on back-end servers. The Mobility Server can be deployed and distributed at wireless LAN sites and at specific device locations.

For retailers that want to connect Wi-Fi wireless networks to printers, POS systems, weight scales and other non-PC or PCI slot devices, the CB 2000 Client Bridge connects Ethernet-enabled devices for 11Mbps wireless connectivity. The CB 2000, ideal for operating system-independent devices, supports advanced security to meet wireless application requirements. The product implements the industry standard Kerberos V5 protocol on-board for enhanced data protection and authentication.

"As retailers in the Middle East start to look at providing their staff with wireless devices in their store environments, the ability to quickly - but securely - add networked devices that improve the customer experience and overall store operations becomes important," said Mike Allen, director for channels, EMEA at Symbol Technologies. "These new products enable retailers to enjoy more mobility with greater security at a lower cost because they support emerging systems as well as legacy systems that can now be wirelessly connected to the network."

The Spectrum24 Mobility Server features the Linux operation system, SuSE Linux 7.2, to ensure an extremely high level of reliability when deploying enterprise-class Kerberos security. While the Mobility Server authenticates user names and passwords, it also supports dynamic key distribution, issuing a unique key per session per client, and a new encryption key at regular time intervals and on every roam.

The CB 2000 Client Bridge has embedded Wi-Fi connectivity for an out-of-the-box wireless experience and can wirelessly connect up to four Ethernet devices in a network hub configuration. With its embedded Web server, the CB 2000 can be managed and configured by any Web browser, driving the firmware upgrade utility that allows for new mobility and performance features to be easily added for client device support.

Kerberos V5 is an open security standard developed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.