iBeacons - Incredibly Ambitious

[numble]

iBeacons - Not mentioned very much in the keynote, but mentioned in at least 3 WWDC sessions. It is an incredibly ambitious feature for iOS 7.

Basically, their use case for ranging was that you'd put the beacon by the register, when you are in broad range, pop up stuff about the store/museum (menu, or in a big store, the sales going on in that department) and when you are in very close range, you'll bring up payment processing stuff (when near register) or item information (near products/museum piece).

 

[cmChimera]

Fake. Apple doesn't innovate.

 

[flux73]

Incredible. Looking through all the various posts about iOS 7 and this is the only mention about iBeacon. And virtually no response to it either. This very well may be the most overlooked feature of iOS 7.

The implications of iBeacon are enormous and I don't think anything else in iOS 7 comes even close in terms of intriguing potential. Micro-location services has the potential to change almost every aspect of our lives. Mobile payments is the most obvious implementation.

Imagine walking through your grocery store and the phone popping up the relevant sales as you approach the products. And then buying them right then and there without ever encountering a checkout person.

Imagine going to the airport and the phone checking you in as you step into the airport. Then as you approach security or the gate, your boarding pass pops up.

Imagine going on a walking tour through a city you're visiting by simply looking at your phone which will give you the relevant information about what you're seeing AS your seeing them.

Imagine parking in a giant parking lot and not having to remember where you parked because your phone will automatically mark it for you.

Imagine walking through the city and your phone knows you're looking for 4+ star rated Thai food. If you're anywhere in the vicinity, the phone will alert you to where they are. When you step into the place, a menu pops up.

Imagine going to the hospital, and your phone automatically registers you and sends your relevant medical history and insurance info. No more paperwork to fill out.

Imagine coming home and the garage door automatically opens, the lights and the heat come on.

The possibilities are literally endless. With a combination of iBeacon and a well-implemented fingerprint sensor, NFC may become unnecessary. Possibly even obsolete.

 

[MozMan68]

Great article on it...as usual, Apple has taken something that exists in various forms (either blutooth or NFC tags) and has integrated it in a way that will make it possible for developers to create something incredible.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13...ance-apps-location-awareness-via-bluetooth-le

 

[FlatlinerG]

Incredible. Looking through all the various posts about iOS 7 and this is the only mention about iBeacon. And virtually no response to it either. This very well may be the most overlooked feature of iOS 7.

The implications of iBeacon are enormous and I don't think anything else in iOS 7 comes even close in terms of intriguing potential. Micro-location services has the potential to change almost every aspect of our lives. Mobile payments is the most obvious implementation.

Imagine walking through your grocery store and the phone popping up the relevant sales as you approach the products. And then buying them right then and there without ever encountering a checkout person.

Imagine going to the airport and the phone checking you in as you step into the airport. Then as you approach security or the gate, your boarding pass pops up.

Imagine going on a walking tour through a city you're visiting by simply looking at your phone which will give you the relevant information about what you're seeing AS your seeing them.

Imagine parking in a giant parking lot and not having to remember where you parked because your phone will automatically mark it for you.

Imagine walking through the city and your phone knows you're looking for 4+ star rated Thai food. If you're anywhere in the vicinity, the phone will alert you to where they are. When you step into the place, a menu pops up.

Imagine going to the hospital, and your phone automatically registers you and sends your relevant medical history and insurance info. No more paperwork to fill out.

Imagine coming home and the garage door automatically opens, the lights and the heat come on.

The possibilities are literally endless. With a combination of iBeacon and a well-implemented fingerprint sensor, NFC may become unnecessary. Possibly even obsolete.

Easy there, John Lennon.

 

[MozMan68]

Oh...and I'm on the list for one of these...

http://www.august.com/

 

[flux73]

Easy there, John Lennon.

lol
Other than him being murdered, I'm ok with that comparison.

Still it's hard to understand why all the rumors are so focused on the cosmetic changes, when something like this was announced at WWDC.

 

[MozMan68]

lol
Other than him being murdered, I'm ok with that comparison.

Still it's hard to understand why all the rumors are so focused on the cosmetic changes, when something like this was announced at WWDC.

Because, this requires the willing participation of a ton of people to create engaging use of the technology. Many will do it right...many will do it wrong or not at all. Better to leave it as a delightful surprise for users...

....and it may be somewhat limited to certain phones....

 

[mcdj]

iBeacons - Incredibly Ambitious

iBeacons - Overly Ambitious

Fixed.

What are the odds they'll ever get this off the ground when even location based notifications barely if ever work?

 

[MozMan68]

iBeacons - Overly Ambitious

Fixed.

What are the odds they'll ever get this off the ground when even location based notifications barely if ever work?

It is a completely separate thing that has nothing to do with GPS control location based notifications.

Low energy blutooth utilized is "always-on"...

 

[iBeast]

Those slides are under NDA. Why are you breaking NDA?

 

[matttye]

The only thing I don't like about this vs. NFC is that iBeacons have to have power.

Aside from that this seems like an improvement in every single way.

I love how it works at different ranges, so it's a lot more flexible.

If Apple starts selling iBeacons that you can customise to do whatever you want on your phone, like NFC stickers, and pick the range you want it to work at... I may post the 'shut up and take my money' meme

 

[flux73]

The only thing I don't like about this vs. NFC is that iBeacons have to have power.

Aside from that this seems like an improvement in every single way.

I love how it works at different ranges, so it's a lot more flexible.

If Apple starts selling iBeacons that you can customise to do whatever you want on your phone, like NFC stickers, and pick the range you want it to work at... I may post the 'shut up and take my money' meme

This company appears to have some kind of BLE interface ready for development work already:
http://redbearlab.com/blemini/

On their iBeacon specs page they haven't revealed anything yet due to the NDA, but they've posted power options that includes a coin cell battery.

 

[matttye]

This company appears to have some kind of BLE interface ready for development work already:
http://redbearlab.com/blemini/

On their iBeacon specs page they haven't revealed anything yet due to the NDA, but they've posted power options that includes a coin cell battery.

If devices powered by those have a decent battery life and aren't too expensive, it sounds perfect!

 

[madsci954]

Very interesting, but as iBeast said, this looks like NDA stuff, you could be kicked out the dev program for leaking this stuff.

 

[flux73]

Not sure where the OP got it from, but if you do Google "iBeacon", you'll see a link to the full presentation of this on YouTube. I just thought it was a part of the WWDC that I missed.

 

[flux73]

Oh...and I'm on the list for one of these...

http://www.august.com/

Just saw the link. Besides being incredibly useful, that looks REALLY cool. I'd pay a lot to be able to eliminate the need for keys or wallet in my pocket. Hoping Apple can make that a reality.

 

[mcdj]

It is a completely separate thing that has nothing to do with GPS control location based notifications.

Low energy blutooth utilized is "always-on"...

I was speaking more to the fact that Apple has a tendency to tout features that never really work right and/or catch on, then let them falter idly or ditch them altogether. Location based notifications, MobileMe, Ping, iWeb etc...

 

[matttye]

I was speaking more to the fact that Apple has a tendency to tout features that never really work right and/or catch on, then let them falter idly or ditch them altogether. Location based notifications, MobileMe, Ping, iWeb etc...

Location based notifications work fine for me!

 

[tekno]

without ever encountering a checkout person.

Shut up and take my money!

 

[Joaolx]

I personally cannot wait to see the future with this. Just the simple fact that it takes away the distance restriction makes it so much better.
I want to get into programming and probably make apps for iOS and this looks like an amazing idea to make hardware and software in the house or anywhere react to the devices, or the other way around, so I definitely want to work with this in the future.

 

[matttye]

I hope they address this more when the new iPhone is released. Maybe it'll be the big thing in that event.

I want to know more about what these beacons will be able to do.

 

[MattInOz]

...

The possibilities are literally endless. With a combination of iBeacon and a well-implemented fingerprint sensor, NFC may become unnecessary. Possibly even obsolete.

With this and passbook Apple would have two services that aren't reliant on NFC but could be greatly improved by it. I kind of think Apple is trying to set up their go to market strategy for NFC equipment not make it redundant.

 

[matttye]

With this and passbook Apple would have two services that aren't reliant on NFC but could be greatly improved by it. I kind of think Apple is trying to set up their go to market strategy for NFC equipment not make it redundant.

In what way would NFC improve iBeacons?

iBeacons work at various ranges and are therefore already more feature rich than NFC tags/devices.

 

[MattInOz]

In what way would NFC improve iBeacons?

iBeacons work at various ranges and are therefore already more feature rich than NFC tags/devices.

You can get 10 NFC tags for the price of 1 LE-BT tag. Their paper thin and no battery. So a Museum with 100's of items on display that would make a massive difference to this happening or not.