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Apple now using iBeacon technology in its US retail stores
Apple is rolling out iBeacon technology to all its 254 US Stores starting today, December 6, says a report from the Associated Press. The technology will allow customers to receive messages about products, events and discount offers as they walk through a store. It will also alert customers when an order is ready to be picked up. Apple demoed the technology at its Fifth Avenue store in New York City earlier this week. The store has 20 iBeacon transmitters, some of which are iPhones and iPads that utilize this iOS 7-based technology. The iBeacons will connect to your iOS device using Bluetooth, and the connection is optional for the user. You don't have to be pinged about upcoming events if you don't want to. The iBeacons offer a distinct advantage over GPS, which doesn't work well indoors and lacks the sensitivity to detect movement around a store. iBeacon is also being rolled out at Macy's and select Major League Baseball parks in the US. [Via Engadget]
Apple Stores now using iBeacon tracking for app-enhanced personal shopping
While shopping online often means your whims are creepily tracked, at least there's respite in brick-and-mortar retail, right? Actually, following tests at a New York outlet, Apple has just rolled out iBeacon technology that can shadow your every move in all 254 of its US stores -- if you want it to. That's the same system Macy's and Major League Baseball are testing at select locations, which uses Bluetooth frequencies to precisely sense your position. When you stroll past the iPhone table, for instance, the app can detect your upgrade status and price out a newer model or inform you if an order is ready to be picked up. Cupertino also foresees the use of iBeacon in places like museums where information about an artwork could pop up when you're in front of it. If all that makes your privacy antennae twitch, Apple said iBeacon won't work without your say-so and has promised it won't store any tracking information. So, if you're over any trust issues in that regard you can grab the app here.
MacBeacon and Locate for iBeacon: An inexpensive way for developers to design and test iBeacons
iBeacons are a hot topic and getting hotter. It seems like we're hearing a lot about retailers and others who are chomping at the bit to use the short-range, highly focused location technology for things as varied as in-building directions or targeted advertising. But how are developers able to start creating iBeacon-enabled apps without having one of the Bluetooth devices on hand? That's where some tools from Washington, DC-based Radius Networks can help out. The company recently announced MacBeacon (US$9.99), which allows any Bluetooth 4.0 (Bluetooth Low Energy) equipped Mac to be set up as a test iBeacon. If a developer is just getting his or her feet wet in the iBeacon world, the company even has a free iOS app called Locate for iBeacon available. MacBeacon allows developers to create beacon profiles that provide full iBeacon functionality. For developers who want to test iBeacon-enabled apps, it's a great way to see how the apps react to proximity to iBeacons. Devs can give the iBeacon a name for labeling purposes (it's not broadcasted by the beacon), generate a UUID, set group identifiers and adjust the beacon's power level. A full help page provides both an introduction to iBeacons as well as assistance in using the app. The Locate for iBeacon app does exactly what the name implies -- it locates iBeacons. But it does more than that, providing distance measurements between the iOS device and the iBeacon, a way to calibrate the iBeacon and also a way to turn an iOS device into an iBeacon itself. A developer could theoretically just use the Locate for iBeacon app for testing purposes. Radius Networks also has iBeacon hardware development kits available (US$99.99 to $149.99). Based on the popular Raspberry Pi single-board PC, these kits feature one or two Bluetooth LE transmitters and come with iBeacon software that works with Apple's iBeacon SDK. The company has developer tools available, including the Message Radius platform (for pushing notifications to devices when they're within a certain range of an iBeacon) and a Proximity Kit API for setting up localized geofences. TUAW reported earlier this week on how retailer Macy's and shopping app Shopkick teamed up to use iBeacon technology in a few flagship stores. With tools like those from Radius Networks making it easier for developers to implement the technology, you can look forward to seeing iBeacons everywhere you go.
Macy's tests location-specific store discounts using Apple's iBeacon (video)
The Bluetooth-based iBeacon feature in iOS 7 is theoretically ideal for retailers -- they can offer location-sensitive deals without having to track shoppers using GPS. We're about to find out how well it works in practice, as Macy's has just started testing Shopkick's iBeacon-derived ShopBeacon service in a closed beta. Stores in New York's Herald Square and San Francisco's Union Square now carry transmitters that send discounts and recommendations to participating iPhone users when they pass nearby. Whether or not Macy's offers the feature to the public will depend on the success of the trial, but it may not be long before your favorite store is more than eager to greet you.
Daily Update for November 20, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all 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 inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Shopkick rolls out iBeacon feature shopBeacon at Macy's flagship stores
I can't speak for the rest of you, but ever since Apple showed off iBeacon technology, I've been waiting for the day that I can walk into a retailer and have my iPhone recognize it. Thanks to Shopkick's new shopBeacon transmitters at flagship Macy's stores on the US coasts, customers will get a chance to experience it for the first time. Shopkick announced today that the new iBeacon feature is live and ready to ping your iPhone with notifications about store deals, customer recommendations and, of course, Shopkick-specific rewards as soon as you set foot in the retailer. As shoppers move between departments, the app will provide additional information about specific products and produce reminders about items the user has "Liked" in the past. OK, so it's basically a really smart version of a department store circular (with a dash of Minority Report), but at least someone is finally getting some use out of iBeacons. But not me, because I'm based out of the Midwest, where apparently we're not ready yet for the latest tech.
MLB to use iOS 7's iBeacon for pointing out sights (and seats) in stadiums
Major League Baseball is becoming very iPhone-friendly: it gave iOS 6 users Passbook ticketing this season, and it's now planning a treat for iOS 7 users. A 2014 update to MLB's At the Ballpark app will use iOS 7's iBeacon feature to guide sports fans as they pass by low-power Bluetooth transmitters in the stadium. Enter the ballpark and you'll get seat directions; visit specific points and you may get coupons or highlight videos. Only the New York Mets are testing the feature at Citi Field, but the league believes that other teams are likely to follow suit.
What iOS 7 means for enterprise developers
Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 7, is nearing release, and over at VentureBeat, Solstice Mobile CEO J Schwan offered up a guest post positing that iOS 7 is "the most noteworthy iOS upgrade since the iPhone first hit the market in 2007." Schwan is taking the view that "organizations that do not take advantage of iOS 7's new enterprise features will end up serving an outdated app experience to a market of future-hungry end users." Schwan points out that there are significant benefits to quick adoption of iOS 7 for enterprise developers. Enterprise Single Sign-on will both increase security in the enterprise, as well as make it much easier for users to access corporate data assets. AirDrop Sharing for Apps is seen as a way to use real-time document and content sharing for more efficient use of sales, presentation and collaboration tools. Apple's take on Low Energy Bluetooth, known as iBeacon, will enable things like indoor navigation (helping to navigate large buildings or campuses), device presence awareness (what devices / people are in the area right now) and the ability to have location trigger workflow tracking. Schwan sees the "scan to acquire Passbook passes" capability of iOS 7 as a huge potential boon to the company and mobile marketing as well. Apple has over 575 million iTunes customers on file, most of whom link credit cards to those accounts. Should the company be able to integrate mobile payment into Passbook and connect to those credit cards, the sky is the limit for iOS-based mobile commerce. In his post, Schwan also notes that the UI changes in iOS 7 really put content over aesthetics. That gives developers an opportunity, especially in the enterprise, to really make it possible for users to focus on critical tasks instead of navigation. As Schwan concludes, "Enterprises that put the work in now to prepare for the September release of iOS 7 will be ahead of the game."
