Reva Systems announced on August 20th 2007 the general availability of its release 2.0 Tag Acquisition Processor (TAP) and accompanying Management Console products. The new release includes plug-and-play support for additional RFID readers, printers and other devices; an improved graphical user interface with more compact and streamlined controls; and enhanced integration capabilities for IBM, Microsoft and SAP applications.

Release 2.0 has been tested and validated in some of Reva's previously announced customer RFID deployments, including METRO Group's retail and distribution environments and Hewlett-Packard's manufacturing and distribution operations.

The Reva TAP is an RFID network infrastructure appliance that delivers accurate, actionable data for enterprise integration frameworks and consuming applications. The Reva Management Console provides a graphical tool for configuring physical device placement. It supports network management and device monitoring for system scalability, and it incorporates centralized reader and device firmware upgrade capabilities for sustainable deployments.

Some of the new features in Reva's TAP 2.0 release include:

1. Support for additional RFID reader manufacturers and models from Intermec, Motorola, Sirit and PLCs
2. Enhanced integration capabilities for IBM, Microsoft and SAP applications—now offers improved IBM WebSphere and Microsoft BizTalk integration and new EPCGlobal EPCIS data capture, web services and Java message services interfaces.
3. A Java container for hosting partner-developed workflow logic and applications along with enhanced event management tools.

Reva are interesting and I see their major competitor being Cisco. It is a hardware solution creating a blackbox connected into your network that contains RFID Middleware.