“IDmicro, Inc., a Tacoma-based provider of wireless smart chip communication technology has announced the company has completed the acquisition of QuickRIC Software, LLC, a radio frequency identification software development company. RIC stands for Remote Intelligent Communications. The acquisition was a stock and cash deal to strengthen IDmicro’s RFID product development capabilities to quickly deliver vendor neutral based solutions for its transportation, retail and supply chain management applications.QuickRIC, also based in Tacoma, was founded in 1998 by a team of programmers developing software that would allow companies to develop and deliver radio frequency products to market faster. IDmicro felt the software provided a competitive advantage significant enough to warrant the acquisition, according to Nathan Wright, marketing and communications director for IDmicro.IDmicro will use the software for developing wireless communication applications, like its RF-based Total Fleet Management System that integrates eight individual products into one system for the transportation industry. The QuickRIC software enables multiple product integration developers, like IDmicro, to quickly create their own custom RFID applications using remote intelligent communications.With this acquisition, we’ve shortened our product development cycle dramatically, said Greg Stewart, president of IDmicro. We can now make chip sets communicate with each other faster and less expensively than before.Previously, as remote intelligent communication is still a new technology, software developers often had to create routines for each application that perform all the communications between various readers, tags and computers. The process proved both time consuming and difficult, even for experienced programmers.The QuickRIC software helps resolve the problem, speeding up development and delivery to give IDmicro a competitive advantage, Wright said. The company also provides services such as integrated circuit design, system integration and custom product development.One of the points in our mission statement states we will ‘Source or develop the highest quality smart chip technology and components,’ Wright said. We’re willing to say to customers, ‘If you need a unique product and it doesn’t exist, we’ll build it for you.’Designed as an OCX control that allows database libraries to describe themselves to other programs for easy access, QuickRIC registers itself into C++ or Visual Basic application development environments and can be dropped into any application for managing hardware control. As an example, using QuickRIC, a software developer could easily direct the application to the correct port his equipment is using or give attenuation instructions to an antenna. This enables the programmer to more efficiently focus time and effort for the design of higher level programming for each application.IDmicro and QuickRIC are a perfect match, said Mitch Sheean, a principal at QuickRIC Software. Our software combined with IDmicro’s radio frequency and Bluetooth expertise make a formidable partner for bringing products to market faster.The acquisition comes as IDmicro conducts a second round of financing to raise $10 million, according to Wright. The company is very optimistic the offering will close within a fairly short period and has received considerable interest from the venture capital community and private investor sector, Wright said.We’re on a journey and our destination is very clear, Wright said. We will establish IDmicro as the leading global provider of wireless smart chip communication solutions. Our $10 million stock offering is just the next step in that journey. We’re building an enduring company that’s leveraging the most advanced technology to build products needed today and tomorrow.IDmicro has initially targeted the transportation, retail and supply chain management industries. Their technology solutions are in use at a diverse range of businesses, including:- Loon Mountain Ski Resort, New Hampshire (SkiPass);- Washington Athletic Club, Seattle (SpeedPark beta test);- Guatemala City, Guatemala (SpeedGate);- Stein and Stein, Portland, Oregon (SpeedGate); and- Brandt Truck Line, Bloomington, Illinois (Multiple products).IDmicro provides wireless smart chip technology solutions and designs, manufactures, markets, integrates and supports wireless data transfer technologies and intelligent asset identification systems. The company is headquartered in Tacoma, with offices in New Mexico and Idaho.”