Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has launched an app for the Apple Watch that enables wearers to tap their device to unlock hotel room doors via Bluetooth... More
Starwood guests unlock hotel rooms with Apple Watch app
Bluetooth
PayPal begins piloting NFC and records 40% growth in mobile payments
Online payments giant PayPal has revealed it is again testing NFC, though the company’s president has made clear that he’d like the company’s platform to be technology agnostic and he doesn’t see the long-term success of NFC as assured... More
SnapScan rolls out beacon payments in South Africa
South African mobile payments company SnapScan has rolled out Bluetooth beacon based in-store mobile payments at 50 merchants in Cape Town and Johannesburg... More
Windows 10 for mobile gets HCE
Microsoft is to introduce support for host card emulation (HCE) payments in the mobile version of its Windows 10 operating system... More
Carrefour extends grocery shopping to smartwatches
Customers at a Carrefour hypermarket in Paris are now able to use their smartwatch to access their digital shopping list, tick off items as they go and receive loyalty points when they check out... More
TfL tests guide beacons for the blind
Transport for London (TfL) is testing the use of Bluetooth beacons that work with a mobile app to provide guidance to visually impaired passengers travelling on the London Underground... More
Optus shows off wearable payments
Australian mobile network Optus has shown off a prototype watch that can be used to make contactless payments as an extension of its Cash by Optus prepaid NFC payment app... More
Pizza Hut could let customers order and pay for pizza from their cars
Pizza Hut is testing a proof-of-concept “connected car” system that would let its customers order and pay for pizza from their vehicle before identifying themselves when arriving at the restaurant through Bluetooth beacons placed in designated parking bays... More
PayPal readies contactless reader
PayPal is preparing to launch a new version of its PayPal Here card reader that can handle transactions with contactless cards and NFC devices... More
White paper identifies clear consumer preference for NFC
NFC Technology: How Changing Consumer Preferences Create New Opportunities For Retailers, a 26-page white paper that presents the results of a Strategy Analytics and NFC Forum study into US consumer attitudes to NFC, QR codes and Bluetooth beacons in retail, is now available to download from the NFC World+ Knowledge Centre... More
Brooklyn Museum reports on BLE issues
Brooklyn Museum has produced an in-depth report that examines the practical issues it experienced implementing and managing a network of Bluetooth beacons... More
Bluetooth beacons to generate new revenue stream for mobile banking apps
2,500 US banks and credit unions will soon be able to add an “additional potential revenue source” by sending out branded, local offers to users of their mobile banking apps... More
Liber8 raises funds for e-ink bracelet that uses NFC to change designs
A bracelet that combines an e-ink display with NFC to let the wearer change its design by simply selecting an image on a mobile app and tapping their smartphone against the bracelet has beaten its fundraising target on Indiegogo and is now set to go into production... More
NFC gets 75% approval rating from US consumers
The speed, convenience and control of NFC have made it a clear winner with the American public in a study conducted by Strategy Analytics for the NFC Forum... More
Bluetooth beacons could be just the ticket for UK rail passengers
UK rail passengers could soon have their tickets verified automatically as they walk through fare gates at a station, using a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-enabled mobile ticketing app due to be built by Bytemark... More
Facebook to test Bluetooth beacons in New York
Facebook has unveiled a new service called Place Tips that works with Bluetooth beacons, WiFi and GPS to show the social network’s iOS app users “useful and relevant” information about the places they visit... More
Schoolboys protect Macs with Touch ID
Two Dutch schoolboys have developed KeyTouch, an app that uses Apple’s Touch ID technology to protect access to Mac computers... More
TempTraq offers wearable Bluetooth thermometer
Printed power solutions provider Blue Spark Technologies has unveiled TempTraq, a thermometer in the form of a patch that adheres to the skin to monitor body temperature for 24 hours and sends the results to a compatible mobile app via Bluetooth... More
Apple Watch owners to get beacon promos at Marsh Supermarkets
US grocery chain Marsh Supermarkets is to use Bluetooth beacons to deliver targeted information such as shopping lists and recipes directly to a shopper’s Apple Watch or smartphone, marking the “world’s first iBeacon-wearable integration at retail”... More
CardMobili adds beacons to mobile wallet
CardMobili has added support for Bluetooth beacon-based marketing services to its digital wallet platform... More