Location tracking technologies have become quite ubiquitous in the smartphone age, with popular applications like Google Maps and Facebook utilizing GPS information both to help users find their way to a new restaurant, and then to broadcast their location to friends via Facebook check-ins.
Now, according to a report from the Associated Press, Apple wants to take location tracking to the next level. The name of the California computer company’s latest innovation is called iBeacon, but it’s not a new computer or smart device like some customers might expect. Instead, iBeacon is a new system that Apple is implementing in its retail stores throughout the United States.
iBeacon is a feature of the Apple Store iOS application, which sends text messages and push notifications to users about various Apple-related things. For instance, if a customer orders a new MacBook Pro from the Apple Store, the app can tell them when the computer is ready for pick-up.
However, iBeacon is about more than just customer service messages. Apple wants to completely personalize the way shoppers browse its retail stores. iBeacon would make this customization possible by using advanced Bluetooth technology in order to track a customer’s precise location in its stores. That customer would then be sent a variety of customized phone messages based on his or her proximity to various items in the store.
As a shopping model, the Apple Store already offers a remarkably personalized, hands-on experience. Shoppers can come into the store, play around with different Apple devices, and share in-depth conversation with store representatives who can guide them to making the right purchase.
However, iBeacon seeks to take the Apple Store shopping experience to the next level. Are all of the iPads and iPhones in the store already in use by other customers? No worries: iBeacon sends information to your phone about products in the store that you can browse until a device is available. Can’t find a rep to tell you whether or not your original iPhone 5 is eligible for a device upgrade to a newer and shinier iPhone 5S? iBeacon will ask you about upgrading when you walk past the iPhone table, then automate a check to see if you can get any trade-in cash or store credit for your older phone.
Quite simply, the possibilities for iBeacon are nearly limitless, ranging from coupon promotions to product demonstrations. Best of all, the system puts a new wealth of shopping options right on users’ smartphones. It’s hardly surprising that other business models, from museums to Major League Baseball, are working on developing the iBeacon concept for their own uses.
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