Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
by the time this is able to do anything really worthwhile, android will be supported.

Ok... then why are you so worried?

You were talking about iOS-only being a "bad business decision" when obviously you know that it won't be iOS-only...
 
I had the exact same questions.

From my understanding (if i'm wrong looking for clarification)

iBeacon is really just a fancy way of using low power bluetooth 4.0 to determine your position within buildings, where otherwise GPS and Tower based positioning is either unfeasible, or unusable.

Beacons are just to let an application know if you are near a position or not in order to give contextual information. They don't really work well for positioning for a variety of reasons such as interference.
 
Ok... then why are you so worried?

You were talking about iOS-only being a "bad business decision" when obviously you know that it won't be iOS-only...

I was referring to the quoted post issuing an ultimatum that a developer must choose ios or android becuase of finite resources. my remark was that choosing is foolish, particularly for a company as large as MLB in this scenario, when android already has an open source api for ibeacons.
 
Sounds very American to me: A mixture of technical overkill and de-responsibilization of the individual consumer ;)

Been to a couple of mass venues in my life, but never felt the need for electronic assistance to find a seat, the loo or something to eat and drink.

I'll have to disagree in every way.

Some venues are quite large. The Louvre in Paris, consumer electronics show in Los Angeles. You could literally be there for days and not see the same thing twice. Indoor mapping would make it a breeze.

Using iBeacon when you walk up to a painting it could give background of the artist. Play an automated audio file on the history.

Different attractions inside an event have different show times and by the time you walk all the way there, you find out you have an hour to wait. You could find out before you get there.

The potential use in selecting and ordering food before you even leave your seat. It makes for faster & shorter lines.
 
Am I the only one that thinks this sounds really useless.

It will be useless if applied wrong. I hope they don't fill the system with crap simply to have it do something, anything. Implementers could really kill this fast if they don't know what they're doing. If users see it as noise instead of added value, the whole concept could self destruct as soon as it's launched.

----------

works with android 4.3 and up, if the developer of the app chooses to support android

iPhone users spend far more money than Android users. If I were a developer, I'd go after the most bang for the buck.
 
my remark was that choosing is foolish, particularly for a company as large as MLB in this scenario, when android already has an open source api for ibeacons.

But like I said... it doesn't matter how much money the MLB has if most Android phones can't even use iBeacon.

Any iPhone made in the last 3 years can, however. The iPhone is a much bigger target.

The MLB made the decision to support iOS only... there was a reason behind it.
 
But like I said... it doesn't matter how much money the MLB has if most Android phones can't even use iBeacon.

Any iPhone made in the last 3 years can, however. The iPhone is a much bigger target.

The MLB made the decision to support iOS only... there was a reason behind it.

But that's not the whole picture. iPhones in USA are most widely used by women, teenagers and college students. These categories are not people who go to baseball games.
 
But like I said... it doesn't matter how much money the MLB has if most Android phones can't even use iBeacon.

Any iPhone made in the last 3 years can, however. The iPhone is a much bigger target.

The MLB made the decision to support iOS only... there was a reason behind it.

But in the future 100% of new android phones will support Bluetooth le. It is not static.

MLB has apps for every mobile os
 
iPhones in USA are most widely used by women, teenagers and college students. These categories are not people who go to baseball games.

Hmmmm... so why would MLB focus on the iPhone for their initial rollout of iBeacon?

They should be focusing on a "man phone"

:D
 
I believe both the Dodgers and the Dbacks are playing against Team Australia in two games before the two official MLB games.

Will Trent Oeltjen be there? I can't wait to find out.

I expect the Dbacks will be playing Team Australia on Friday, since the Dodgers play them on Thursday.

Whatever happened to Trent Oeltjen? It seems he now plays for the Australian Baseball League, whatever that is.
 
But that's not the whole picture. iPhones in USA are most widely used by women, teenagers and college students. These categories are not people who go to baseball games.

Not the mets and yankees games ive been to
 
That'll be great... in the future.

But do you finally see why MLB went with iOS now?

Yes, my whole point is that I don't like the impression that people are getting that ibeacons are ios only. I actually think they are pretty cool, and would only get cooler if embraced as crossplatform and universal. It is Bluetooth le with software.

Just like how impressive airplay could be crossplatform(apple has much more incentive here for lockdown IMO). It works on android as well with allcast.
 
Wow, The ignorance quotient on this thread must be setting a new high.
 
Could care less about iWhatevers. Opening Day is upon us, and that's a classic, borderline local holiday for your nearest city; something that technology needn't be concerned with. Go Cardinals! :)
 
But that's not the whole picture. iPhones in USA are most widely used by women, teenagers and college students. These categories are not people who go to baseball games.

And 74% of enterprise activations.

Meaning educated white-collar and executives working in corporate environments (who are still unfortunately mostly men).
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.