The largest producer of confectionery in Latvia has installed Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons in its stores in the capital Riga to send information directly to a customer’s smartphone in the default language of their device... More
German payments technology provider Wirecard has developed a wearable wristband that allows a user to make a payment using host card emulation (HCE) at any contactless POS terminal... More
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
Carrot, a suite of mobile apps designed to push users into better behaviours, has added a calorie-counting app that works in conjunction with a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon placed inside a fridge to help users lose weight, by keeping track of their daily calorie intake and punishing them for overeating... More
CardMobili has added support for Bluetooth beacon-based marketing services to its digital wallet platform... More
Music recognition app Shazam has partnered with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) specialist Gimbal to add support for Bluetooth beacons to its platform... More
Fifty merchants in the German city of Hannover have signed up to accept Bitcoin payments using a terminal supplied by startup Pey, that uses a combination of iBeacon, QR code and NFC technology. More
FitLinxx has begun taking pre-orders for AmpStrip, a 24/7 wearable device that sends a range of health and fitness data direct to a user’s smartphone using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)... More
Fujitsu Laboratories has developed a wearable ring-style device targeted for use by factory and building workers that offers a handwriting-in-the-air functionality and NFC to enable the lookup of relevant documentation and instructions with a tap of a finger... More
Verifone and Samsung have announced a global partnership to deliver Android-based mobile point of sale (mPOS) solutions to multi-lane and enterprise retailers... More
South Africa’s Nedbank is internally testing a proof-of-concept mobile payments app called Accolades that uses BLE beacons to connect customers to retailers as they enter the store... More
A US startup is taking pre-orders for a biometrically secured mobile wallet, consisting of a payment app and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based “bio-sticker” attached to the back of the user’s phone... More
Beacon solution provider Kontakt.io is hosting a Bluetooth-based treasure hunt with a million dollar prize at the CES in Las Vegas... More
US mall operator Taubman is piloting BLE beacons for an indoor navigation service at its Mall at University Town Center in Sarasota, Florida, with plans to roll out the platform to other properties throughout the year... More
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
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 (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
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
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
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