According to Perez, wearable scanners have accelerated the loading of packages by 29%. UPS was the first adopter of wireless ring scanning in the industry in June 2003 with a CRS1 model, Perez added. The new RS507 innovates by allowing two-dimensional barcode scanning and has a quicker reading capability, as well as Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity that is less susceptible to interference than the previous Bluetooth 1.0.3.

UPS would not disclose the cost of the rollout, but said it invests about $1 billion in new technology each year.

Motorola in action.

UPS is mid-way in a deployment of ring scanners and hip-worn terminals designed by Motorola Solutions.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at or subscribe to . His email address is .