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Metromile's Tag uses Apple iBeacon tech to track your driving
For almost three years now, Metromile has offered a pay-per-mile insurance service that tracked your trips via an OBD-II reader (a device that plugs into your car's data port) called the Pulse which also provided other useful info like your mileage, parked location and fuel costs. Today, Metromile has unveiled the Tag, a wireless device that uses Apple's iBeacon tech to do almost the same thing. Instead of plugging into that aforementioned OBD-II port -- which is in every car built and sold in the US since 1996 -- the Tag can be placed anywhere in your vehicle. It then communicates that same car and trip info to your phone over Bluetooth LE (which does mean that both the Tag and your phone needs to be in close proximity in order for it to work).
Folding electric bike talks to all your other smart devices
While there's no shortage of smart bikes, they still have limits: many rely chiefly on pedal power, and their tech-savviness is often limited to talking to a special smartphone app. The JIVR Bike might just solve several of those problems at once, though. The two-wheeler not only uses a chainless electric drive (good for 20 miles of pedal-free travel per charge), but serves as an iBeacon that talks to any nearby device which supports the format -- you could have it send info to your laptop, if you like. It folds to fit into small apartments, too, and you can plug in your phone to use it as a dashboard.
Marsh Supermarkets, inMarket create iBeacon platform that extends to Apple Watch
Marsh Supermarkets - which operates 81 supermarkets under the Marsh, O'Malia's Food Markets, and MainStreet Market locations in Indiana and Ohio - and retail mobile marketing firm inMarket today announced the launch of a new iBeacon platform that allows users of the Marsh and the inMarket List Ease apps to be alerted as they move through the stores. The big news, though, is that the inMarket Proximity iBeacon platform is the first announced that will work with Apple Watch. According to Amit Bhardwaj, the senior director of customer loyalty for Marsh Supermarkets, "iBeacons have created new ways to connect with mobile shoppers in the store, and inMarket allows us to reach many of our shoppers through the apps they love and use everyday. Now with wearable integration, shoppers who use Apple Watch will enjoy the same digitally-augmented, real-world shopping experience." The idea is that shoppers wearing Apple Watch will be able to opt into receiving recipes, offers, and alerts as soon as the device becomes available and the apps are updated. The video below shows just how the inMarket Proximity SDK works with the List Ease app to provide shoppers with a shopping list on their wrists that can be checked off with a tap.
New Bluetooth devices will connect directly to the internet
For all the talk of an Internet of Things, many Bluetooth devices aren't very internet-savvy; they usually have to rely on WiFi (or another gadget entirely) to hop online. That's going to change very shortly with the advent of Bluetooth's new 4.2 spec. If a sensor, smart light bulb or other low-power device supports the new technology, it can connect directly to the internet (through a router or other access point, at least) without needing a go-between. That's potentially huge for home automation -- you could control all your appliances and light fixture from anywhere in the world without requiring special hubs.
Barclays is testing iBeacon tech to improve in-branch accessibility
Compared to other banks, Barclays is often way out ahead when it comes to embracing new technology. After becoming the first financial institution to let customers transfer money using only their mobile number, the company also let some business users swap PINs, passwords and authentication codes for fingerprint scanners. For its latest tech trial, Barclays wants to make things easier for customers coming into its branches, so it today announced that it's become the latest UK company to trial Beacon technology.
Beacon marketing campaigns working well for retailers
The past year or so we've heard a lot about beacon marketing and in particular, Apple's iBeacon. Now comes word from a company with its own beacon marketing platform -- Swirl Networks -- about the first tangible proof that indoor, location-based short-range beacon marketing is actually effective at engaging shoppers. The idea, if you're not familiar with it, is that you opt in to receiving offers from a retailer by using their app, and as you walk near certain products you're offered information and deals. Swirl's platform is deployed throughout the US and Canada at retailers such as Lord & Taylor, Hudson's Bay, Urban Outfitters, Alex & Ani, Kenneth Cole, and Timberland stores. The company has collected data over the past three months on tens of thousands of interactions by consumers who opted in to receive beacon notifications, and the results are amazing. A full 60 percent of shoppers open and engage with beacon-triggered content, with 30 percent actually redeeming beacon offers when making purchases. A surprising 73 percent of the shoppers said that the content and offers delivered by the beacons as they roam a store increased their likelihood of making a purchase, while 61 percent said they'd do more holiday shopping at stores that offer mobile content and offers while they're shopping. That same number of shoppers said they'd visit a store that features beacon marketing campaigns more often, and 60 percent said they'd buy more as a result of receiving the beacon-triggered ads. This is the first real indication that beacon marketing does work, and may influence even more retailers to jump on the beacon bandwagon in 2015.
'Proximity' is Samsung's equivalent of Apple's iBeacon, coming to a mall near you
Tired of only seeing adverts 99 percent of the time? While Apple's already announced intentions to take over the final one percent with iBeacon, Samsung's just today getting in on the action. The Korean electronics giant has a website introducing Samsung "Proximity," a "mobile marketing platform that connects consumers with places via cutting-edge Samsung location and context-aware technology." As nakedly awful as that sounds, the "marketing platform" described sounds a lot like Apple's iBeacon -- technology that enables communication between your mobile device and the places you go. For example! Say you're in Macy's getting a fancy new cashmere shawl. If Macy's has iBeacon/Proximity set up (via in-store transmitters), the store could tell you what's on sale, what might match, and a variety of other information. That information could be helpful (clothing match suggestions), it could be nonsense ("spend over $1,000, get 15 percent off!"), and it could be somewhere in-between.
Poynt's smart store terminal lets you pay any way you like
One of the many reasons you don't see widespread support for mobile payment tech like Apple Pay or Google Wallet is the hardware investment needed to make it all work. Why should a store spend thousands of dollars on machines that miss out on some features, or will be obsolete in a few years? That's what Poynt wants to fix with its new smart terminal. The Android-powered device takes just about every form of payment imaginable, including NFC transactions from your phone, chip-and-pin cards, QR codes and old-fashioned magnetic stripe cards. You can even add a cash drawer through USB. The countertop machine also has Bluetooth beacon support for in-store offers, and its app platform lets stores adapt to new services by either downloading apps or writing their own.
Austin's airport uses WiFi to gauge how long you'll wait in security lines
If you're a frequent flyer, you've probably panicked after realizing that a long security line could make you miss your flight. You might not have reason to worry at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, though, since the travel hub is now taking advantage of Boingo's WiFi networks to estimate security line wait times. The system works by detecting passengers' WiFi-equipped devices as they swing by security checkpoints, creating a catalog of interval data. With a few months of information, Boingo can almost always predict how long you'll be stuck in the queue -- yes, even during the holiday rush. Austin's approach doesn't require that you sign into Boingo (it's just checking for basic hardware identifiers), and Bluetooth beacons supplement the coverage.
Macy's will give you location-based discounts through your iPhone
Macy's experiments with location-sensitive shopping have apparently paid off -- in the wake of a successful trial, the retail behemoth has unveiled plans to put iBeacons in all of its stores. Once they're activated this fall, you can get discounts and other promos on your iPhone as you wander through the store; you only need to install the Macy's app and keep Bluetooth turned on. There will only be regular deals at first, but an upgrade in the spring will offer department-specific discounts. You may get a special deal on a coat right as you're swinging by the men's or women's clothing sections, for instance. You're probably not going to go out of your way to shop at Macy's just to see bargains appear on your mobile screen, but this could be a useful perk if you're already a frequent customer.
San Francisco airport beacons help the blind get around using their phones
San Francisco International is about to make life decidedly easier for blind and visually impaired travelers. The airport has teamed up with Indoo.rs to unveil a Bluetooth beacon system that will help these passengers find their way through Terminal 2 using only their phone. When users walk past one of the 500 transmitters, their devices will announce nearby points of interest; they can find flight gates, ATMs, information desks and power outlets without asking for help. An early version of the necessary app also has a directory for sighted visitors.
iBeacons arrive today in Hudson's Bay, Lord & Taylor stores
Shoppers at Hudson's Bay and Lord & Taylor stores across Canada and the US are getting an early peek at the future of retail marketing starting today as HBC Department Store Group flips the switch on the Swirl in-store beacon marketing platform. While the systems won't be in place at all stores today, the company's 850,000 square foot flagship store in Toronto and a number of mall and free-standing stores will be equipped with the technology, which uses Bluetooth Smart and Apple's iBeacon technology. Working with a number of company-produced and third-party apps, Swirl's system beams everything from a warm welcome for repeat customers as they enter a store to specific targeted content and offers when a customer enters a specific area of the retail floor. The Swirl setup will work with all iBeacon-enabled retail apps, and has been certified by Apple. The system uses SecureCast beacons that are literally peel-and-stick and can be placed almost anywhere (it's the small white knobby cylinder next to the iPhone below). A marketing console provides a way to create and manage campaigns, with options to target messages based on profile data like a customer's status in a loyalty program, how much they've purchased in the past, or how they're browsing the physical store. Additional reporting and analytics tools give marketing departments information on things like how long a customer actually stays in a portion of a store or redeems a special offer. That information gives the marketers a way to better understand customer trends and improve their campaigns. Swirl beacons are also installed in Kenneth Cole, Timberland, and Alex and Ani stores.
iBacon Beacon? Hillshire Brands increased sales intent 20x with Beacon Program
Hillshire Brands, distributors of cured meat products, recently partnered with BPN and inMarket to try an experiment with iBeacons. Using beacons and geofencing technology, the company pushed information about Hillshire products and promotions to consumers as they entered a store. They found iBeacons were a wild success. Hillshire Farms released the following information this morning. The campaign, which leveraged new beacon technology to speak to consumers on their personal devices as they entered a store, delivered a 20x increase in purchase intent by those exposed to messaging, which is a 500% increase over the CPG average for mobile ad engagement. This data is consistent with a previous inMarket study, released in June, that showed consumers are 19x more likely to engage with an advertised product in-store after receiving an in-store engagement. American Craft also experienced a 36% increase in brand awareness and a lift in overall sales. The campaign, which ran from April-June 2014 across the top 10 U.S. markets, achieved 6,000 in-store engagements in its first 48 hours. The test was started after a study showed Hillshire's ideal customer base were less likely to bring in and redeem traditional print coupons. Eager to gain that extra sale-motivated business, Hillshire's iBeacons pushed a number of promotions directly to the mobile devices of consumers. Among the promotions were the promise of extra reward points or coupons for their purchases. Given the success of the program, Hillshire Brands is looking to extend the beacon program campaign to its Jimmy Dean brand later this fall. We're moving into a magical world of technology, where the iBeacon starts to help you earn cheaper real bacon. The savings will be paid for by having to have ads forcibly sent to your phone. Progress is bittersweet and savory.
Hacking the friendly skies: creating apps for wearables at 36,000 feet
Few activities are as taxing, time-consuming and mentally draining as air travel, and there are hundreds of thousands of travel-related apps to help us get from point A to point B with as little hassle as possible. But there's always room for improvement, especially now that wearables like Android Wear, the Pebble smartwatch and embedded sensors are growing in popularity. While it's already possible to scan boarding passes or receive flight notifications on smartwatches, there are surely other use cases that would ease the burden of flying. Wearable World, which teaches wearable-related startups the ins and outs of the business, partnered with American Airlines to create what it's billing as "the first in-air wearables hackathon." Teams were asked to come up with the best travel app for wearables, and the finalists got to jump on one of the airline's newest planes to polish their app and show it off to real-life passengers.
Apple seeking FCC certification for iBeacon hardware
Apple's iBeacon -- whether it's a future product that will work with HomeKit or just a device for use at the company's own retail outlets -- has an official product number: A1573. The sharp-eyed folks at Securifi, who have just started shipping their Almond+ Gigabit Wi-Fi Router and Smart Home Hub, noticed the FCC Application for Certification for Apple's iBeacon. The testing was performed by Audix Technology (Wujiang) Co. on behalf of Apple. Extrapolating the measurements on the drawing above, the iBeacon appears to be about 5.46" in diameter and powered through a USB connection. There's no word on whether the iBeacon will be available to the general public. Many thanks to Ram Malasani at Almond for the tip!
"Dances with iBeacons": Testing Radius Networks RadBeacons
Although I'm not a developer by any stretch of the imagination, I find the concept of iBeacons to be fascinating. The idea of low-power Bluetooth beacons that can coax apps into providing information about something that's near them is very cool, and a while back I wrote about some apps available from Radius Networks that provided a way to start playing with the technology without investing in any physical iBeacons. Well, Radius Networks is now rolling out the hardware in the form of what it calls RadBeacons, and I recently had a chance to try out two models and configure them with their own unique names. The US$29 RadBeacon USB (left in image at the top of this post) is a tiny USB dongle that can be plugged into any standard USB adapter for power, while the $39 RadBeacon Tag (the white tag in the middle of the top image) is a battery-powered tag that is perfect for those situations where power may be an issue. Both the devices work with apps from Radius Networks as well as any other apps that are aware of iBeacons. The free RadBeacon app (universal, optimized for iPhone 5) is used to configure RadBeacon proximity beacons. You can scan for configurable RadBeacons with a single swipe gesture, and each discovered beacon displays its name, model, and ID. Tapping on a discovered beacon shows its name and advertised UUID identifier, major identifier, minor identifier, power value, rate setting, and transmit power setting. To update any of those settings, you just enter a valid PIN (which you can also apply), then change the settings and hit Apply. There's also a way to calibrate the measured power of the beacon by holding it at a set distance away, then letting it go through a calibration process. Once calibrated, you can measure the proximity of the beacon with the app as well. When everything is set up the way you want it, it's possible to lock the device so that third parties can't reconfigure it. The Locate for iBeacon app (free, universal, optimized for iPhone 5) is what you can use to locate those pesky RadBeacons (and other iBeacons). One thing I found odd about this app is that although I had set new names for a RadBeacon USB and a RadBeacon Tag, they still showed up in Locate for iBeacon as generic beacons with a name of Radius Networks 2F234454. Once you find a beacon, the distance to it is displayed. And for some inexplicable reason, the Locate app also includes a way to configure and calibrate the RadBeacons ... so why have two different apps? For tagging movable items with an iBeacon, the RadBeacon Tag works best. It's battery powered, and has a hole in it through which something like a cable tie or wire can be passed to attach the tag to something. The RadBeacon app showed all of the regular info for the tag, adding the battery level as well. The batteries are replaceable. What I was surprised with is just how accurate the proximity readings are on a properly calibrated beacon. This really speaks to how it will be possible for stores, museums and other venues to notify people within a short distance of a beacon of a product, piece of art, or whatever else you want them to look at in your app. One thought I had while trying out the RadBeacons was that I'd love to see Geocaching figure out a way to work these into "the game." In other words, a geocacher could use GPS to get into the vicinity of a cache, then -- if they've been unsuccessful finding the cache by traditional means -- be able to ask for an iBeacon notification when they're right near the cache. Likewise, curious would-be iBeacon fans can do things like purchase a few RadBeacons, then use apps like Proximitask (free) or the recently-updated Launch Center Pro ($4.99) to set up reminders that go off with you arrive at or leave a specific location. The latter app can even trigger IFTTT recipes, which opens up a whole new world of location-based automation. Conclusion While the Radius Networks apps aren't exactly perfect at this point in time, developers and other individuals interested in trying out iBeacon-based ideas can now do so without spending a lot of money. I highly recommend both the RadBeacon USB and RadBeacon Tag for experimentation, and would love to hear from TUAW readers who are coming up with innovative iBeacon solutions. Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars possible
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for May 7, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
TUAW TV Live: iBeacon, uBeacon, we all Beacon
We're back for another fun-filled episode of TUAW TV Live. This week's topic -- for at least a minute or so -- is iBeacon technology. Earlier today TUAW ran a post about WikiBeacon.org, a site that has just popped up recently with the locations of all recently-found iBeacons. Co-host Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd and I will spend some time talking about the technology, some recent Twitter chatter about the current shortcomings of iBeacon, and possible uses. After that, we'll go back to our usual senseless banter about everything else in the universe. My co-host Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd and I will be taking to the airwaves and chat room at our regular time. Be sure to take part in the chat, and also see if you can answer our weekly trivia question and win a prize! And guess what? Today you don't have to go to a new page to watch the live stream or take part in the chat room. Our recent redesign made the width of the column just a wee bit wider, so we can fit all of our tools into the regular post. So to watch the show and take part in the chat, just scroll down a bit, log into the chat room, and be sure to press "play" to see what's happening. Contact the podcast Follow the hosts on Twitter: @stevensande, @docrock, @TUAW Send your questions to @stevensande E-mail us: tvlive at tuaw [dot] com
WikiBeacon.org just made it easier to find iBeacons
While there has been a lot written about the potential for Apple's iBeacon technology for a number of varied purposes, most smartphone owners have never encountered an iBeacon in the wild. If you'd like to know if there actually is an iBeacon somewhere in your vicinity, or help locate the elusive -- at least right now -- beacons, you're in luck. Radius Networks recently flipped the switch for WikiBeacon.org, a website that uses the company's free Locate for iBeacon app to populate a map with information about those beacons. The site has been up for a week, and according to Radius Networks Chief Product Officer David Helms, "so far we have had over 20,000 iBeacon sightings submitted from around the world." As you'd expect, a lot of iBeacons are clustered in major cities. But there are some surprise statistics as well -- Donaueschingen, Germany appears to have the world title for iBeacons with almost 5,000 reported, while Cupertino, California is well down the list in spot #217. Not surprisingly, Germany is also at the top of the "countries with the most beacons" list, with the US in the #2 spot and China in #3. You can help populate the site with more iBeacon data by installing the Locate for iBeacon app on your iPhone -- it's also available for Android.
Waitrose and Tesco begin trialling iBeacons for in-store offers and alerts
Apple's Bluetooth-based iBeacon technology looks set to enrich in-store shopping experiences, so it should come as no surprise that two of Britain's biggest supermarkets are looking to see what it's all about. Mirroring pilots by their counterparts in the US, Tesco and Waitrose have commenced trials that deliver location-sensitive notifications and offers to shoppers via their smartphone without the need for GPS. Tesco began trialling in its Chelmsford store in April, issuing messages to customers to remind them to pick up pre-ordered goods. Waitrose started using the technology at its new experimental Swindon store last week, using iBeacon to alert shoppers to promotions when they're near a particular aisle or food counter. Unlike its rival, Tesco has said it will holding off using beacons to issue marketing messages (including promotions) over fears it could scare customers away. Whether or not iBeacons will make their way to more supermarket stores across the UK depends on the outcome of the trials. However, the technology has seen strong early backing, suggesting your local store could one day begin sending you tailor-made notifications and offers.
