Watch out, iBeacon! Yesterday Google announced “Eddystone,” an open source beacon standard designed to be platform-agnostic to take on Apple’s iBeacon, whose proprietary standard only works with Apple devices and shuts out all the Android users. In comparison, Eddystone beacons will be able to work with any device that supports Bluetooth LE. In addition, Google’s […]
The Lab is bullish on iBeacons, Apple’s latest technology which enables proximity messaging (1-150 feet in range) via compatible apps. Think about recipes tailored to the grocery aisle you’re in or facilitating wait times at a restaurant without the need for those lovely restaurant pagers. Well, Apple’s recent announcement of actionable notifications brings the promise […]
Check out SAP’s futuristic vending machine in the video below, on display at Mobile World Congress. It slickly implements pretty much every innovative technology you could ask for including an iBeacon, NFC reader, facial detection (powered by Intel), social media integration and more. SAP envisions people signing up for loyalty programs tied to a network […]
While MWC remains an Apple-free zone, this year’s show features a plethora of retail beacon technologies looking to capitalize on Apple’s recent iBeacon launch. Japan’s DNP (Dai Nippon Printing Co) is displaying a templatized white label app solution for retailers looking to integrate iBeacons into the in-store experience. DNP says the first iteration of its […]
Apple is flipping the switch on its iBeacon Bluetooth Low Energy sensors across its 254 US stores today. It’s the largest deployment of the technology into stores, and it will only work if you have the Apple Store app and have given it permission to track you. When you walk into the store, the app […]
Macy’s is the first major retailer to begin testing Apple’s new iBeacon technology in-store. Macy’s will use retail app Shopkick as a form of third-party integration, and users will receive a notification through this app when they walk into Macy’s Herald Square or Macy’s Union Square, San Francisco. The notification directs users right into Shopkick’s […]
To mark the release of the new iPhones – and in part to demonstrate a proof-of-concept – Apple retail stores will implement iBeacon customer tracking to reportedly enhance the shopping experience for customers. iBeacon is similar to GPS, but it works indoors and it can be used to trigger certain actions on iPhones that are […]
The New York Mets have entered a trial utilizing Apple’s iBeacon indoor mapping feature to customize the At The Ballpark app for everybody that walks into the stadium. They are looking to customize the app based on where you are within the stadium, turning the ballpark into an interactive playground of sorts. The idea is […]
Much has been made this week about Apple’s “iBeacon” functionality baked into iOS 7. It wasn’t part of the 5C/5S keynote, it’s more of a wonky technical detail. But some have embraced it with exuberance as an “NFC-killer”. But first, for the uninitiated, an iBeacon primer. iBeacon is an Apple flavor of Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE). […]
