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Apple Retail Stores to Integrate iBeacon Systems to Assist with Sales and Services

Gudi said:
Wanna boost product sales? Just fix the damn icons.
Let a grown-up do the work this time!
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I'm not sure if that would help or hurt sales because some people obviously like it, probably people in China. And the other options like Android are even uglier. But once I can jailbreak, this will be the first time in years I modify the UI... and bring it back to an iOS 6 theme!
 
I wonder if we will start seeing general-purpose ibeacon devices being marketed to the general public? Something like programmable NFC tags, that we can use for basic purposes. I am tempted to buy a pack to play around with, but with zero programming knowledge, I think it would be useless to me? :(
 
And that is precisely why Apple chose not to jump on the NFC bandwagon.

Apple are, simply put, just smarter than everyone out there.

Matthew Yohe said:
Nope. NFC requires your device be within 4 inches or so to communicate. iBeacons are all based on the Bluetooth LE 4.0 standard, and can have a varying range of around 160 ft.
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springsup said:
That's very cool. Imagine something like this at a supermarket - checking products against your allergies/diet requirements.
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That can be done much better without any beacons. Point your camera at the product, have an app that recognises products from their packaging and gives you all the information. And that's much more effective: You only have to put the photo and nutritional values of a candy bar into a database once, and it works wherever you find that candy bar in any store anywhere. What you are thinking of means that every store has to locate where in the store these candy bars are. Move the shelf and the system is broken.

On the other hand, if you are in the store and looking for candy bars, then the beacon system would help because obviously you can't point your camera at them when you haven't found them yet.
 
I am especially looking forward to iGondor using this to call for help from the iRohan so they might work to defeat the evil, lidless … i, wreathed in flame. (sorry).
 
ItWasNotMe said:
The time is now...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24803378?filter=none
Unless you wear a mask that is...:D
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However, this seems to be totally misunderstood. The "facial recognition" in the article tries to recognise whether you have a face, and whether it is a male face or a female face. That's it. It doesn't recognise people. It's like the facial "recognition" software in a camera that detects faces and focuses on them, except that it tries to distinguish between male and female.
 
You should check out the guys at Journification www.journification.com they are working with all the major iBeacon manufacturers, including Estimote and they already have iBeacon field trials running in hotels, cinemas and retail outlets.

They operate out of New York and London and are probably further along the iBeacon road map than anyone else, aside from Apple. I have contacted them and they will be reselling iBeacons in early 2014, they also conformed that they are developing DIY apps, in addition to working with existing app developers to integrate iBeacons...

I think they are an independent business and not tied to Apple or Estimote.
 
LukasValine said:
I wonder when Apple will start selling iBeacons to the public. This could be really useful for small businesses. Walk into a restaurant and their menu shows up on your iPhone...
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apple doesn't sell the beacons. you can buy them from third party suppliers.
 
gnasher729 said:
However, this seems to be totally misunderstood. The "facial recognition" in the article tries to recognise whether you have a face, and whether it is a male face or a female face. That's it. It doesn't recognise people. It's like the facial "recognition" software in a camera that detects faces and focuses on them, except that it tries to distinguish between male and female.
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Was in the context of personalised advertising, It not only does gender but age, plus the cynics would say it won't be long before they match your face to your loyalty card...

Also, in the UK at least, pretty much every large shopping mall is using triangulation technology to track your movements via your phone "anonymously". Helps them negotiate rental arrangements with the stores so the more passing traffic/footfall in the store the higher the rent.

Ally the two - localisation via triangulation, camera to detect gender, age and you can then have some vey targeted advertising in very specific locations.
 
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It's bad enough being accosted by salespeople in a store when you just want to look around. Who actually wants their phone to bug them too? Is it no longer possible to simply look at an object in a store without the experience being supplemented by infotainment beamed into a glowing screen?
 
tod said:
It's bad enough being accosted by salespeople in a store when you just want to look around. Who actually wants their phone to bug them too? Is it no longer possible to simply look at an object in a store without the experience being supplemented by infotainment beamed into a glowing screen?
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I believe you have option to turn it off if you don't want this feature on your phone.
 
xyextra said:
I believe you have option to turn it off if you don't want this feature on your phone.
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Sure, you can turn it off or do what I do and choose not to carry a phone. The bigger issue is that such a silly and intrusive use of technology is generally seen as positive and desirable nowadays.

If you are looking at a Mac Pro in the store and decide that the real product in front of you with the information sheet on the product's iPad display thing isn't sufficient, and you want to look up more information about it on your phone for some reason, it isn't that hard to search Google for Mac Pro or go the the Apple web site, etc. But that level of technological wizardry isn't good enough! Your phone should already be displaying information about the Mac Pro when you're in front of it, subtly encouraging you to consume more products!

These trends also say a lot about people's habits. Do people have a life beyond buying products or making the purchase of those products super easy? It seems like a lot of technology is used to either contemplate or facilitate the purchase of more technology.
 
tod said:
Sure, you can turn it off or do what I do and choose not to carry a phone. The bigger issue is that such a silly and intrusive use of technology is generally seen as positive and desirable nowadays.

If you are looking at a Mac Pro in the store and decide that the real product in front of you with the information sheet on the product's iPad display thing isn't sufficient, and you want to look up more information about it on your phone for some reason, it isn't that hard to search Google for Mac Pro or go the the Apple web site, etc. But that level of technological wizardry isn't good enough! Your phone should already be displaying information about the Mac Pro when you're in front of it, subtly encouraging you to consume more products!
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Your first paragraph shows you're completely oblivious to the true potential of this technology which is not advertising but rather indoor mapping. Apps that can guide you through large buildings such as Malls, hospitals, etc. where no amount of signage is enough due to the sheer number of possible destinations.

Your second paragraph shows that your thought process is in danger of being clouded by advanced age and cynicism. You should read this post by John Syracusa on technological conservatism, particularly the paragraph "Up Hill, Both Ways." Good Sunday reading. It will really help you straighten out your thinking. Enjoy.
 
KeepCalmPeople said:
Yay - more people walking around with their heads down staring at their phones. iBeacons would work better with whatever Apple comes up with to compete with Google Glasses.
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Your lack of imagination limits you. Who said you always have to look at your phone? In the case of apps that provide directions, they could easily be displayed on a screen as you walk buy it. A mall map might display the route to the stores you are interested in as you walk up to it, for example.
 
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