iBeacons - What in the World?

Have you ever experienced the joys of chilling out to an iPod? How about the instant gratification of having an ipad or an iphone right at your fingertips?   These are all items brought to you by Apple.  Are you wondering what Apple is going to roll out next?  Well – I can tell you right here!  The iBeacon.

Have you heard of it?  No?  Don't worry, as evidenced by my recent research trip to the nearest APPLE store, neither have their own employees.  If you google it you will only find a handful of sites that have only the barest of information available, on the consumer side.  BUT YET it's out there, it's being used in stores like American Eagle, Starbucks, Macy's and even some local grocery stores.

WHAT IS IT?  Introduced in the summer of 2013 as a feature of iOS 7, Apple's new mobile notifications system iBeacon is being hailed by big brands as the next great opportunity in advertising. Using tiny Bluetooth wireless transmitters affixed to buildings, iBeacon lets companies send iPhone owners specific pop-up notifications based on their location and proximity to stores and products.

Disclaimer - That paragraph above I swiped from some Wikipedia Source–

My take on what it is:

A store has an iBeacon (it fits in the palm of your hand) and it places this iBeacon on a shelf, near a product, just inside it’s door (basically wherever they want). If you have purchased the corresponding app, set the permissions and have wifi/Bluetooth enabled when you walk by the iBeacon will say to your App – HEY OVER HERE…SOMETHING COOL YOU WANT TO SEE, BUY OR TRY!! And in an age of Instant gratification I can’t imagine that this isn't going to explode in 2014!!

Here are some of the highlights around the specs that I have been reading about this week:

What devices will allow me to utilize these ibeacons?

• iOS devices with Bluetooth 4.0 (iPhone 4S and later, iPad 3 and later, iPod touch 5, iPad mini and later)
• Android devices with Bluetooth 4.0 and Android 4.3 and later (Samsung Galaxy S3/S4/S4 Mini, Samsung Galaxy Note II/III, HTC One, Nexus 7 2013 edition, Nexus 4, Nexus 5,^[13] HTC Butterfly,  Droid DNA)^[14]
• Macintosh computers with OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) and Bluetooth 4.0 using the MacBeacon application from Radius Networks.^[15]

How is it different from NFC?  (I had to look this up)

NFC - Near Field Communication - basically you've seen those TV commercials where people are going around pressing their phones up against other phones and sharing data?  Well THAT is NFC.  

Although the NFC environment is very different and has many non-overlapping applications, it is still compared with iBeacons.

• NFC range is up to 20 cm (7.87 inches) but the optimal range is < 4 cm (1.57 inches). iBeacons have up to 50 m range
• Not all phones have NFC chips (no iOS devices) but most phones have Bluetooth capability (most new ones come with 4.0).
• With the zero battery energy harvesting technology used from devices made by Passif, there is less battery used than NFC.

So in a nutshell with iBeacons you don't have to go around touching your phone to things to get data updates! Additionally you don't have to have a special chip in your phone and iBeacon batteries can last 12-24 months.  

So as always when it comes to new technology I always want someone to break it down for me.  Basically give me the real world application – Give me something my non- technical brain can compute.

So this is what I know – Happy Reading –

You’re in the mall – heading to the department store on the other end; your phone vibrates and you see a small advertisement pop up on the screen.  It says, “Starbucks Coffee buy one get one free”.  You look up and notice you are just now walking by a STARBUCKS.  You and your friend rush in to buy a coffee.

You have just been subjected to one of the benefits of an iBeacon. – Retail information and flash sales at a glance.

You have just used your car’s GPS system to navigate to the Civic Center where you are heading for an all day conference.  Once inside you realize you have no idea where you are going – Oh wait – Your phone vibrates and you see that the room you wanted is just to the right.

You have just been subjected to one of the benefits of an iBeacon – A GPS location to help you navigate the indoors.

These things are pretty cool.  GPS Stalking might be catching on.  As with all new technology one of the key things to remember is that it’s almost less about what iBeacons can do now, but more for the possibility of what they will be doing in the future.  

The MLB is experimenting right now with how to best utilize this technology…no more searching for seats, for your favorite hot dog stand, or even having to stand and search your pockets for that wayward ticket.

There are healthcare applications – A doctor who walks in your room and can see your chart, your diagnosis, your medication etc.. This is information intended for a physician and is wiped from the device as he/she walks out of your room.

What about education applications?  When a teacher enters his classroom with a beacon in his pocket – all ipads are forced to only access the textbook and informational websites only!  It’s happening people!

So long story….longer; It’s a work in progress but APPLE is leading the way. 

As with any technology there are pro’s and con’s and to be fair I don’t think you can have a conversation like this without bringing up the obvious elephant in the room:  Security?  Hacking?  Hippa (Healthcare)?  Are we just asking for it?  Well that’s another subject for another day, but in the meantime keep your eyes peeled for what’s just around the corner.