The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has adopted version 4.2 of the Bluetooth core specification, introducing security improvements that mean Bluetooth beacons are now unable to engage with smartphones without permission from the user and making it harder for eavesdroppers to track a device via its Bluetooth connection. More
Carnegie Mellon University’s Future Interfaces Group has developed a system that will allow smartwatches to laser project icons representing device functions or notifications for missed calls and messages onto the wearer’s skin... More
Canadian startup Bionym has begun shipping its Nymi wristband to partners and key developers after starting to take pre-orders in September last year... More
Memory card standards group the SD Association has expanded its iSDIO specification to include support for TransferJet, a short range contactless communications technology that enables data to be transferred between devices at high speed... More
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon maker Estimote has introduced a new product category that it calls “nearables”, stickers that contain a Bluetooth Smart controller, an ARM processor and both an accelerometer and a temperature sensor... More
Sixty million Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons worth US$500m will be shipped in 2019, ABI Research forecasts... More
Boston startup Robin has closed a US$1.4m seed funding round to expand and develop a solution that uses iBeacons and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to let workers interact with the office space around them... More
Google’s Chromecast media streamer, which enables users to send shows, movies, music and more to large screens, is to use a new ultrasonic connectivity technology to enable mobile devices to be paired with a Chromecast-equipped television, GigaOm reports... More
Chinese social media site RenRen is giving users the ability to create a personal, animated QR code for their profile page, which they can use to let contacts add them quickly to their friends list... More
Toshiba has demonstrated a touchscreen kiosk that combines a wireless charging station, NFC reader and fast data transfer technology TransferJet at the Ceatac 2013 tradeshow... More
Apple’s iPhoto for iOS application, announced this week at the iPad launch, includes a feature to ‘beam’ photos to other iOS devices... More
The ZigBee Alliance has announced it has now completed development of ZigBee Telecom Services, a new standard enabling operators to offer a range of mobile proximity services to consumers using standard handsets and SIMs containing a built-in ZigBee antenna... More