Happy Hour Pal, a Honolulu-based startup that lets businesses promote special offers to users of its mobile app, is using Bluetooth LE beacons and Apple’s iBeacon service to push happy hour offers to consumers, Pacific Business News reports... More
Archive: Other news
iOS 8 to include location-based app promos
The latest edition of Apple’s iOS operating system, unveiled at WWDC this week, will provide a way for apps relevant to a user’s location to be promoted on their iPhone home screen, MacRumours reports... More
Top London shopping street installs beacons in 100 stores
One hundred retailers with stores on London’s upmarket Regent Street, one of the city’s busiest shopping locations, have installed Bluetooth Low Energy beacons that trigger personalized offers and communications for shoppers who have downloaded a mobile app developed by landowner The Crown Estate... More
Alfa-Bank uses activity trackers to offer higher interest rates to customers who exercise
Russia’s Alfa-Bank has introduced a new savings account linked to an activity tracker, which rewards customers who exercise more with a higher interest rate... More
Authentify to add fingerprint and NFC security to mobile transactions
Mobile authentication provider Authentify is to provide a way for banks, payments networks and other secure service providers to make use of the fingerprint scanner built into the Samsung Galaxy S5 to add an extra layer of security to mobile transactions... More
Aurnhammer takes BLE on a New York pub crawl
Digital design agency Aurnhammer is using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons placed in bars and restaurants to guide participants to their next pub crawl destination — and provide them with sponsored rewards for taking part... More
McDonald’s World Cup app turns fast food into football match
McDonald’s is set to roll out a new campaign for the 2014 Fifa World Cup using an augmented reality app to turn packaging and tables into virtual football games... More
LifeLock empties Lemon Wallet
Identify theft protection provider LifeLock has withdrawn LifeLock Wallet, a service built on Lemon Wallet which it acquired for US$50m in December 2013... More
OpenTable adds Glass bookings
Restaurant booking service OpenTable has introduced a Google Glass version of its app... More
SF Soup to add iBeacons
San Francisco Soup Company, operator of 17 soup, salad and sandwich restaurants around the Bay Area, has selected mobile solutions provider Punchh to create a customised mobile guest rewards program... More
RenRen lets social media users make friends with animated QR codes
Chinese social media site RenRen is giving users the ability to create a personal, animated QR code for their profile page, which they can use to let contacts add them quickly to their friends list... More
Australian bank tests beacons in branches
St George Bank is testing the use of Bluetooth LE technology to send a welcome message and personalised information directly to a customer’s iPhone when they enter a branch... More
X-Men gets iBeacons promo
Twentieth Century Fox is to use Bluetooth beacons to promote the new X-Men: Days of Future Past movie to cinema-goers in Japan... More
For Sale boards get BLE
US start-up RealtyBeacon is making it possible for real estate agents to deliver details about a property for sale to potential buyers as they drive by, by adding Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to their ‘For Sale’ boards... More
Duane Reade installs Bluetooth beacons in ten New York stores
New York-based drugstore chain Duane Reade has upgraded its iPhone app to include support for iBeacons and ten of its 240 New York stores have been equipped with Bluetooth LE beacons in a bid to “foster greater customer engagement.”... More
Waitrose tests iBeacons
Upmarket UK supermarket chain Waitrose is working on a new app that will use Bluetooth LE beacons to welcome customers to its stores and push promotional messages to shoppers... More
CaixaBank integrates bank accounts with Facebook
Spain’s CaixaBank has become the first bank in Europe to launch a Facebook application that allows users to view their bank accounts and perform transactions via the social network... More
Toshiba shows TransferJet kiosk
Toshiba has demonstrated a touchscreen kiosk that combines a wireless charging station, NFC reader and fast data transfer technology TransferJet at the Ceatac 2013 tradeshow... More
Display Points bring NFC ads to restaurant tables
NFC is to be included in a new range of touchscreen tabletop displays designed for the restaurant trade... More
MasterCard CEO: NFC should be seen as “a longer term effort”
MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga has suggested that NFC should be seen as a longer term effort, while acknowledging that some markets have adopted NFC much faster than others... More