Music recognition app Shazam has partnered with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) specialist Gimbal to add support for Bluetooth beacons to its platform... More
Bluetooth
Kontakt.io puts on $1m beacon hunt at CES
Beacon solution provider Kontakt.io is hosting a Bluetooth-based treasure hunt with a million dollar prize at the CES in Las Vegas... More
CES gets BLE beacons
Visitors at this year’s International CES in Las Vegas will be guided around the mammoth tradeshow with their smartphones and Bluetooth beacons provided by Radius Networks... More
McDonald’s introduces Bluetooth beacon offers
Twenty-six McDonald’s franchises in Columbus, Georgia have installed Bluetooth beacons that can be used to deliver coupons, alerts, employment opportunities and customer satisfaction surveys directly to a consumer’s smartphone as they enter a participating location... More
Brixton Pound to add NFC
Brixton Pound (B£), a local currency designed to encourage consumers to spend in independent businesses, is to launch an NFC ‘tap and pay’ service in 2015... More
Brazilian online fashion retailer installs Bluetooth Fashion Spots
Dafiti, Latin America’s largest online fashion retailer, is to place Bluetooth beacons in restaurants, bars and newsstands in the Brazilian city of São Paulo to send out promotional messages to shoppers’ smartphones... More
Ubudu turns beacons into two-way communications devices
Mobile proximity solutions provider Ubudu has unveiled uBeacon Mesh, a platform that enables Bluetooth beacon installations to be used to create two-way mobile communications with consumers... More
Fido finalises authentication specs
The Fido Alliance has published final drafts of version 1.0 of its Universal Authentication Framework (UAF) and Universal Second Factor (U2F) specifications... More
MIT researchers unveil NFC sensors that detect hazardous chemicals
MIT chemists have devised a way to detect hazardous gases and environmental pollutants using an NFC-enabled sensor and a smartphone... More
Starbucks eyes iBeacon
Starbucks is to use Bluetooth beacon technology in the first of its new Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room locations in the Capitol Hill neighbourhood of Seattle in the coming year... More
Bluetooth 4.2 to increase speed and security of Smart devices
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
Broadcom IoT SDK adds NFC
Chip maker Broadcom has integrated NFC into its Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (Wiced) software development kit with the aim of making it easier for developers to build smart homes and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions that combine NFC, WiFi and Bluetooth Smart functionality... More
Toshiba offers NFC/BLE combi chip
Toshiba has unveiled a dual-function IC that includes both a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio and an NFC Type 3 (Felica) tag... More
Barclays to test beacons in branches
Barclays is to run a three month Bluetooth beacon technology trial at its Pinstone Street branch in Sheffield, UK, to alert bank staff to the presence of customers with disabilities... More
Swirl reports positive consumer feedback on in-store beacon offers
Six in ten (60%) shoppers who receive a beacon-triggered message while shopping in a store open and engage with the content and 30% redeem beacon-triggered offers at the point of sale, analysis by Bluetooth beacon offers platform Swirl has found... More
30% of US smartphone owners to use mobile payments this holiday season
Nearly one in three (30%) US smartphone owners say they plan to use mobile payment offerings such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet for shopping in stores this holiday season, Bluetooth ‘connected card’ maker Stratos’ 2014 Holiday Mobile Payments Survey has found... More
Melbourne beacon trial disappoints
Arts Centre Melbourne is rethinking its approach to using Bluetooth beacons after a disappointing pilot that used the technology to send out food and beverage offers to visitors during October’s Melbourne Festival... More
Starwood’s mobile keys go live
The Bluetooth-based mobile keyless entry solution unveiled by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide earlier this month is now live in 10 hotels in Beijing, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles and Doha and will be rolling out to Aloft, Element and W Hotels across the globe... More
The Shard gets BLE beacons
London’s highest viewing gallery is to deploy Bluetooth beacons 800 feet (243m) above the city at the top of its tallest building. Aruba will supply the The View at The Shard with BLE beacons and a software platform to deliver information about notable landmarks visible from the tourist attraction to visitors’ mobile devices... More
Watchdata launches wearables that support NFC payments
Singapore-based Watchdata Technologies has unveiled Sharkey, a wearable device that supports NFC payments and comes in two form factors — a smartwatch or a wristband... More