Shoppers in San Francisco’s South Bay area are being invited to take part in a pilot test of Hands Free, a payment service developed by Google that uses a combination of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi and location services to let consumers make in-store payments without taking their mobile phone out of their pocket. More
Location-based services
Android users to get app-free beacon messages
Google has begun supporting the physical web in its Chrome browser for Android, enabling users to discover web content relevant to their surroundings via Eddystone Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons — without needing to download a specific app... More
Shopkick installs BLE beacons to reward Vanity customers
Users of mobile marketing app Shopkick can now earn rewards via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons every time they walk into one of fashion retailer Vanity’s 150 US stores. “Shopkick will install two shopBeacon devices in every Vanity store,” Shopkick says... More
Nokia sells Here to Audi, BMW and Daimler
Nokia has sold its mapping and location intelligence service Here to a consortium of automotive companies including Audi, BMW and Daimler... More
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
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
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
Carrefour uses LED lighting to send offers to shoppers in stores
French supermarket giant Carrefour is piloting an LED in-store lighting system in its Lille hypermarket that sends location-based services, offers and promotions to a shopper’s smartphone anywhere across the 7,800 square metre shop floor... More
Italian zoo visitors walk on the wilder side with iBeacon network
Visitors to Zoom Torino Biopark in Cumiana, Italy will be able to unlock information and rewards on their smartphones thanks to a network of Bluetooth Low Energy beacons that send location-based messages to their devices... More
Twitter invests in beacon marketer Swirl
Twitter has invested an undisclosed sum in Boston-based proximity marketing specialist Swirl, hinting the social media platform could be looking at using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to push messages. The social media giant has invested alongside Hearst Ventures, Softbank Capital and others in an $18m series-C round, taking the total raised by Swirl so far to $32m... More
SXSW to deploy 1,000 beacons
The organizers of the annual SXSW music and film festival are working with Gimbal, RightRound and Urban Airship to place 1,000 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons around the event’s venues... More
Visa adds mobile location checking
Visa has launched Visa Mobile Location Confirmation, a service that works through a participating bank’s mobile banking app to determine whether a payment request is legitimate or not by matching a phone’s location to the location of a payment transaction... 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
OnStar to deliver offers to drivers on the move
OnStar, a General Motors subsidiary that provides subscription-based in car communications, security, navigation and remote diagnostics throughout the US, Canada and China, is to roll out an extension to its platform that will enable retailers to send drivers coupons tied to their specific destinations. More
Office Depot delivers marketing messages to shoppers via Shazam audio watermarks
Office Depot has become the first retail chain to roll out Shazam In-Store, a mobile marketing platform that makes use of the Shazam music discovery app, inaudible digital watermarks, a merchant’s overhead music system and a location-based platform developed by Mood Media to send promotional messages to shoppers’ mobile phones... More
Here forms NFC ticketing alliance
Nokia’s mapping and location intelligence service Here has formed the Open Mobile Ticketing Alliance (OMTA) with the aim of boosting adoption of NFC by ticketing and transit services across the world... More
Taco Bell app lets customers rotate to reorder
US quick-service restaurant chain Taco Bell has launched a mobile ordering and payment app that lets customers place their orders through a customisable menu and complete a payment using a stored Taco Bell card, credit card or debit card before arriving at the counter... More
Apple patent unlocks cars with BLE
A recently published Apple patent hints that the company is working on future CarPlay functionality that would allow users to lock and unlock car doors, start engines and perform other tasks using their iOS device and geofence technology... More