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GPS WILL TELL you how to get to the nearest Apple store. With iBeacon, Apple hopes to guide you around once you’re inside, whether it’s to pick up an order, upgrade to a new iPhone or shop for a pair of headphones.
On Friday, Apple will begin using the technology at its 254 US stores to send you messages about products, events and other information — tailored to where you are inside, provided you have downloaded the Apple Store app and have given Apple permission to track you.
Using the iBeacon feature, the app will notify you if the computer you ordered is ready to be picked up, for example. Show a clerk your screen with the order number, and the clerk will get it for you. Walking by an iPhone table? You may get a message asking if you want to upgrade, check your upgrade availability and see if you can get money for trading in your old phone.
Transmitters
The company demonstrated the technology to The Associated Press this week at its busy, 24-hour Fifth Avenue store in New York City. At this particular store, Apple has installed about 20 iBeacon transmitters, some of which are simply iPhones and iPads, which come with the capability as part of the iOS 7 mobile software released in September.
The transmitters use Bluetooth wireless technology to sense your exact location. That’s not possible with GPS, which don’t work well indoors and aren’t good at distinguishing between locations that are just a few feet apart.
The beacons can be adjusted to specific distances, so you may get some notifications regardless of where you are inside. Others will come only when you are standing at a particular aisle, wall or product demo table. The store can also send out notifications about deals or upcoming events.
The implications go beyond Apple stores. One day, commuters might get information on subway delays as they stand on the platform, while museum visitors might get details on the painting they are standing in front of. Other retailers, of course, will be also able to offer special deals or track which aisle shoppers spend the most time at.
In-store location technology does raise privacy concerns, though many shoppers have shown a willingness to be tracked if there’s something in it for them.
The iBeacon allows you to scan and pay for some items using your phone, as well as alerting you to products, events and other information. (AP Photo)
Opportunities
Major League Baseball already plans to use the technology next year to customize fans’ experiences at its stadiums, provided they download the At The Ballpark app to their iPhones or iPads and have iOS 7 installed. In a demo earlier this year, MLB officials showed how the app can offer special features based on users’ location in a stadium, such as coupons in the souvenir shop or a video that plays near landmarks.
Apple is not the first to offer in-store location technology. An app called Shopkick, for example, sends users discounts when they enter Macy’s, J.C. Penney and other stores. But Apple’s entry into micro-location puts the nascent technology into the hands of thousands of developers and broadens its reach considerably.
Apple said iBeacon provides apps with “a whole new level of micro-location awareness, such as trail markers in a park, exhibits in a museum, or product displays in stores.”
Location tracking
To take advantage of this, make sure you have Bluetooth enabled on your phone and download the Apple Store app. You’ll have to agree to let Apple track your location and to receive notifications while in the store. It’ll only work if you say yes to both as you set up the app.
The app will automatically switch to “in-store mode” once you enter. Even without iBeacon, the app already lets you scan and pay for some items using your phone, get customer service help and reserve products.
Location tracking does raise privacy worries. After all, shoppers may not want their every move watched and recorded inside a store. Apple, however, said that it does not collect information about shoppers inside its stores. But other companies using iBeacon could, as long as people who download their apps agree to be tracked.
Privacy advocates have raised concerns about the various ways that retailers track shoppers, whether it’s their location, purchase history or how often they visit a store. But consumers often agree to be tracked in exchange for discounts.
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No Apple store in Dublin?
To my eternal annoyance!
I have used the Apple Store app in its UK stores and paid for things with it using my Apple ID. Fierce handy!
Matthew, is there not an Apple reseller in the city ? In the UK, a company called Stormfront have lots of branches in smaller cities and they are an official Apple reseller with stores very similar to Apple’s own.
So your phone will tell you to go to a store and the fork out €700 to buy a newer version……..
I think this will work very well will iPhone users. Well done apple, was getting worried that you had lost yourself there for a while!
If you don’t shop with this retailer or purchase products from their stores why invest effort in criticising them?
Its time Dublin and Cork had apple stores.Whats stopping them from setting up in R.of Ireland.We are told that we are the best country in the world to do business in.You’d think it was a no brainer for Apple.
Apparently they are waiting for a “prime location”
I thought they’d move into where HMV was on Grafton st.
Places as small as Waterford in the UK(like Brighton and Exeter ) have one, so I don’t understand why there isn’t one in the whole of Ireland.
this is consumerism going out of control – urging people to buy buy buy .
the annual or biennial upgrades etc – a near total con trick
“The iBeacon allows you to scan and pay for some items using your phone, as well as alerting you to products, events and other information.”
The iBeacon doesn’t enable you to scan and pay for some items, it’s purely for alerting you to products/events based on your proximity.
You can actually scan and pay, iBeacons can work like NFC and you can accept payments wthout having to bump you phone against anything
No Apple stores in ireland it’s terrible. It must be the only country in the western world without one.
So what. News story my SARS.
Maybe Bono could bring Apple to Ireland?
have your say