With iBeacon, Apple is going to dump on NFC and embrace the internet of things — from Hari Gottipati
Excerpt:
What is iBeacon?
Using Bluetooth Low Energy(BLE), iBeacon opens up a new whole dimension by creating a beacon around regions so your app can be alerted when users enter them. Beacons are a small wireless sensors placed inside any physical space that transmit data to your iPhone using Bluetooth Low Energy (also known as Bluetooth 4.0 and Bluetooth Smart).
For example, imagine you walk into a mall with an iPhone 5s (comes with iOS 7 and iBeacon). You are approaching a Macy’s store, which means your iPhone is entering into Macy’s iBeacon region. Essentially iBeacon can transmit customized coupons or even walking directions to the aisle where a particular item is located. It can prompt a customer with special promotions or a personalized messages and recommendations based on their current location or past history with the company. Smartphones that are in an iBeacon zone will benefit from personalized microlocation-based notification and actions.
Also see:
- Apple’s iBeacon will put the ‘internet of things’ in your pocket — from kurzweilai.net
. - The open secret of iBeacon: Apple could have 250M potential units in the wild by 2014 — from techcrunch.com
From DSC:
How can this sort of thing be used in blended/hybrid learning environments? Will this be a part of our next generation smart classrooms/teaching spaces? A new way to take attendance? Share/distribute personalized content?