MasterCard has approved a solution that enables payment credentials to be provisioned to wearable devices with a secure element and NFC antenna... More
DigiSEq gets MasterCard approval to provision payments to mass market wearables
Bluetooth low energy (BLE)
Carrefour installs Bluetooth beacons in 28 hypermarkets across Romania
Supermarket giant Carrefour has installed 600 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons in its 28 hypermarkets in Romania to guide shoppers around the stores and to deliver personalised promotions and offers either directly to their smartphones or to Samsung tablets affixed to the handles of their shopping carts. More
Google introduces Eddystone, a new open format for BLE beacons
Google has introduced an open format for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons that is designed to address the shortcomings of existing beacon services and is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. More
Henry Holland to weave NFC and BLE into clothes for London Fashion Week
British fashion designer Henry Holland is to integrate NFC and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technologies into clothing designs as part of his spring/summer 2016 collection that will feature on stage during London Fashion Week in September... More
France’s Teleshopping network tunes into PowaTag mobile payments
More than 400,000 viewers of France’s largest television shopping network will soon be able to buy products featured on the TV channel by holding up their smartphone to the screen to scan audio tags that will then redirect them to the item’s online page where they can make a purchase using their stored payment information... More
Fido Alliance adds authentication support for NFC and BLE
The Fido Alliance has added new NFC and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transport protocols to its Universal Second Factor (U2F) authentication specification... More
London buses get on board beacon rollout
Five hundred London buses have been equipped with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to send targeted messages to commuters, as part of out-of-home media owner Exterion Media’s beacon rollout across “major cities” in the UK in partnership with mobile marketing and NFC specialist Proxama... More
Beacons on menu for Cathay Pacific lounge guests
Guests using Cathay Pacific’s business and first class lounge at San Francisco International Airport will be able to receive information about food and beverage menus and other available amenities with their smartphone via beacons installed across the lounge... More
Apple Watch patent transfers data in a shake
Apple’s latest patent details how an Apple Watch could exchange information with another when wearers greet each other with a handshake... More
Beacons guide Hong Kong airport passengers
Passengers at Hong Kong International Airport are being guided by 50 beacons installed across Terminal 1 as part of a pilot with SITA Lab... More
Maple Leafs install beacons for draft party
Fans of Toronto Maple Leafs will be able to win prizes, interact with Legends Row and explore activities on their smartphones during the hockey team’s draft party via beacons from mobile proximity platform Rover... More
PayRange raises $12m for vending machine payments via Bluetooth
Digital payments enabler PayRange has secured US$12m in Series A funding to drive mobile payment acceptance in the vending machine industry with a plug-in dongle called BluKey... More
Beacons link in Cannes Lions contacts
Visitors to this year’s Cannes Lions event will be notified when one of their LinkedIn contacts is nearby or when they have signed up for the same sessions as a favourite via beacons installed by Eventbase... More
40 Adelaide venues install beacons
Forty bars and nightclubs across the Australian city of Adelaide have installed Bluetooth beacons to track visitor attendance and push offers to passers-by using a platform provided by startup Little Birdy... More
Netherlands museum deploys beacons
The Groninger Museum in the Netherlands has deployed beacons to send information about its exhibitions directly to a visitor’s smartphone running the museum’s mobile app, developed by startup Tapme Media... More
Gimbal aims to turn any Bluetooth Low Energy device into a beacon
Mobile location and proximity services provider Gimbal has begun licensing its Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon firmware to enable almost any device with BLE to act as a beacon — including ATMs, jukeboxes, access points, vending machines and more... More
Tesco puts beacons in 270 London stores
UK supermarket giant Tesco has launched its “biggest trial” of Bluetooth beacon technology to date in partnership with consumer goods company Unilever... More
Facebook expands free Bluetooth beacon program
Facebook is offering free Bluetooth beacons to select businesses across the US that will enable them to send “useful and relevant” information to customers about the places they visit... More
The Bancorp to offer HCE prepaid cards to European issuers
Financial products and services provider The Bancorp will offer open loop mobile prepaid cards that make use of host card emulation (HCE) to its European issuers in the fourth quarter of this year, through a partnership with mobile payment provider MeaWallet... More
Bucharest buses to use Bluetooth beacons to guide the blind
Five hundred Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons are to be installed on buses and trolleybuses on two public transportation lines in the city of Bucharest, Romania to guide visually impaired passengers on and off buses so that they can use public transportation services without needing a personal assistant. More