Written on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Ever since Bluetooth came out one of the biggest problems has been (and still is) that of service discovery and pairing. How do you find another device 'near you' and how do you connect to it to exchange data?
To date mobile phone users worldwide have found themselves struggling with this type of interface, but have been patiently and faithfully been sticking with it because of what it offers them is worth it to them. There's no other reason to explain it.
People do need to exchange digital information when near each other (e.g. pass on a digital business card, exchange files, photos, videos, etc.). All the more so when the exchange process and phone-to-phone communication is free. And there's not a lot of phone-to-phone communication that IS free...
So even though things have been pretty tough for the poor old mobile phone owners, we've seen Bluetooth become a standard in most mobile phones. People want to be exchanging data in this manner, period.
With the coming of NFC (the next feature to look for in mobile phones), it seems the process for this type of data exchange will become considerably simpler and users will be finally able to perform this task seamlessly, as all we'll need to do is touch two phones (or other Bluetooth+NFC-enabled devices) to pair them and begin the data exchange.
Posted in
bluetooth,
bluetooth marketing,
mobile advertising,
mobile marketing,
NFC
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Written on Monday, January 09, 2012
Happy New Year everybody!! My warmest wishes to all of you out there - wherever you are - for a year filled with happiness, health all around you and your families and success in whatever you take on - personally, or at work.
After a couple of really hectic weeks I'm back with an interesting story for
NFC (
Near-Field Communications, for those of you still not in the know - check
here for more info) again - the technology we're now seeing in more and more mobile phone models coming out - courtesy of
NFC World ..
French postal service La Poste has added NFC stickers to mailboxes in
the central Hotel de Ville area of Paris, allowing passersby to receive
information on local services and providing La Poste with the potential
to generate new advertising revenues.
La Poste,
the French national postal service, has equipped mailboxes in Paris'
central 4th arrondissement with NFC stickers that enable it to provide a
range of new services to locals.
Tapping the stickers on the
mailboxes allows NFC phone users to receive personalized, real time
offers from local merchants, information on mail collection times at
other mailboxes in the area, directions to the closest postage stamp
sales outlet and the opening times and location of their local post
office.
Posted in
NFC,
QR codes
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Written on Thursday, December 22, 2011
I was recently made aware of this excellent example of a mobile payments solution that goes very far into showing how they are already possible using technologies readily available today.
Most mobile payments solutions you'll hear, including Google's Wallet, involve at some point or another the use of Near-Field Communications (NFC) - therefore the huge hype around this new technology and the reason it is going to become a standard in all mobile phones.
Today's post is about a solution that makes mobile payments possible using technologies already available in most mobile phones today.
Read on to find out how:
MUNICH. Telefónica Germany, Telekom and Vodafone are launching a new
offer for their shared mobile payment service mpass. Smartphones can now
be used as digital admission tickets for the special exhibition "PERGAMON - Panorama of the Ancient Metropolis"
at Berlin's Museum Island. The tickets are conveniently paid for on the
next mobile phone bill while a QR code on the mobile's display opens
the museum turnstiles. Other museums are planning to offer the mobile
payment service in the future.
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Written on Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Today's post is a guest post from Bethany, a fellow blogger, who wanted to write about Bluetooth Proximity Marketing:
Bluetooth proximity marketing is a method which allows the users of a bluetooth device to interact with various advertising agencies by receiving fresh information on various products such as vouchers, coupons etc. The user also receives music files, video files, contact information, V cards, and other product information; which may prove useful from a user’s perspective.
Understanding Proximity Marketing
Proximity Marketing can be understood as the localized wireless distribution content assigned for a predefined locality. These transmissions can be received by using required equipment. This type of distribution can be availed through a localized broadcast or recognizable devices in a specific area. The locations of a device can be determined by a cellular, bluetooth or internet.
Bluetooth Proximity Marketing
1. Bluetooth works on a short range wireless system and being supported by many mobile devices. This makes it a mode of the transmissions used for proximity marketing.
2. A bluetooth broadcasting system should be installed for a specific locality to send information such as text messages, image files, contacts, audio or video files etc in a bluetooth proximity marketing system.
Posted in
bluetooth,
bluetooth marketing,
proximity marketing
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Written on Tuesday, December 20, 2011
This is perhaps some of the biggest news - professionally speaking - I've heard in months!
Yes, you heard that right! Apple has done the - so far - unthinkable and opened up your iPhone's bluetooth for use within other applications, by providing developers with a Bluetooth 4.0 LE API they can now use. Why is this not on their home page, right? Well, admittedly Siri is pretty damn good and justifies the headlines (apart from the annoying "I can only look for business in the U.S. and when using U.S. English" message).
Still, this is great news not just for everyone in Bluetooth Proximity Marketing, but also anyone in the mobile apps industry who wants to implement applications that no longer necessarily need a data plan!
There have been rumblings about some of the new additions to the iOS 5.0 bluetooth stack and hardware in iPhone 4S. ex: [
link]
So let’s poke around the Core Bluetooth Framework in the Xcode
documentation and see what kinds of new things will be possible with
this API.
Some high level benefits of this API are:
- Bluetooth 4.0 LE does not require pairing. So if a TV or another
device that you’ve never seen before is broadcasting, you can see its
signal and connect to it without having to go to the Settings app.
- Uses less power.
- Apps can be woken up and become active when sent signals via the CoreBluetooth API.
- If another app is using a Bluetooth 4.0 LE device, your app will be
able to use it as well. A super awesome use case for this would be that
heartbeat monitor you got. Your 3rd party social network app will also
be able to use the connection as well!
Posted in
bluetooth,
bluetooth marketing,
iPad,
iPhone,
proximity marketing
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