Michal Marek Apple's new operating system called iOS 7 brings many noticeable visual changes and is causing a lot of buzz. People argue whether these are changes for the better and argue whether the system is prettier or uglier. However, few people focus on what is under the hood and what the new iOS 7 brings from a technological point of view. One of the smallest and least discussed, but still incredibly important news in the seventh version of iOS is Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support. This feature is encapsulated in a profile that Apple has called iBeacon.
Details on this topic have not yet been published, but the server, for example, writes about the huge potential of this function GigaOM. BLE will enable the operation of small external energy-saving devices that can be used for many different purposes. One use that is definitely worth mentioning is the wireless connection of a micro-location device. Something like this would allow, for example, navigation inside buildings and smaller campuses, where high accuracy of location services is needed.
One of the companies that would like to take advantage of this new opportunity is Estimote. The product of this company is called Bluetooth Smart Beacons, and its task is precisely to provide location data to a connected device that has the BLE function. Use is not limited to shopping and moving around shopping centers, but will facilitate orientation in any larger building. It also has other interesting functions, for example it can notify you about discounts and sales in stores around you. Something like this certainly has huge potential for sellers. According to company representatives Estimote such a device can last two whole years with one watch battery. Currently, the price of this device is between 20 and 30 dollars, but if it spreads to a wider range of customers, it will certainly be possible to get it cheaper in the future.
Another player that sees an opportunity in this emerging market is the company PayPal. The Internet payments firm unveiled Beacon this week. In this case, it should be a miniature electronic assistant that will allow people to pay with their mobile phone without even having to take it out of their pocket. The PayPal Beacon is a small USB device that connects to a payment terminal in a store and allows customers to pay through the PayPal mobile app. Of course, the basic range of services is also expanded here with various add-ons and commercial accessories.
Thanks to the cooperation of the PayPal Beacon and the application on the phone, the customer can receive tailor-made offers, learn that his order is already ready, and so on. For simple, fast and convenient payments right out of your pocket, just pair your phone once with the Beacon device in the store and the next time everything is taken care of for you.
It is obvious that Apple, unlike other manufacturers, almost ignores the existence of NFC technology and considers the further development of Bluetooth to be more promising. In the last two years, the iPhone has been criticized for the absence of NFC, but now it turns out that in the end it is not a major technology that will dominate the market, but rather one of the dead ends of development. A big disadvantage of NFC, for example, is that it can only be used within a few centimeters, which Apple probably doesn't want to settle for.
It is important to note that Bluetooth Low Energy is nothing new and most phones on the market support this feature. However, its potential remained untapped and Windows Phone and Android phone manufacturers consider it rather marginal. However, technology firms have now recovered and are trying to seize the opportunity. BLE offers really wide possibilities of use, and we can therefore look forward to what manufacturers and enthusiasts from all over the world will come up with. Both of the products described above are still in the early stages of development, but both Estimote and PayPal hope to have the finished products on the market early next year.
In turn, only the users will benefit. iBeacon may be better, but telecommunications companies, banking houses, card companies and other manufacturers have invested billions in NFC-enabled cards, phones and terminals. And there is certainly no threat of another mass replacement of all payment terminals around the world in the foreseeable future.
Therefore, it can run concurrently.
It won't be easy for Apple, but I would personally prefer to walk through the market with my shopping cart as soon as my phone notifies me that a payment has taken place, rather than waiting at the cash registers until I get to pay and then holding my phone/card to the terminal. Of course, it won't happen right away, but years ago I read about the fact that a smart refrigerator will recognize what is consumed, what needs to be consumed or thrown away, based on its contents, and will alert you about it. That's the future.
This reinvention of the wheel will spell doom for Apple sooner or later. NFC is already too widespread for an individual to change everything!
Cell phones were also very noisy and how did it turn out. ;)
But it's not related. It's still a mobile phone, it's just improved. In this case, Apple is trying to match, if not replace!
"For the past two years, the iPhone has been criticized for its lack of NFC, but now it turns out that in the end it is not a major technology that will dominate the market, but rather one of the dead ends of development. The big disadvantage of NFC, for example, is that it can only be used up to a distance of a few centimeters, which Apple is probably not going to settle for."
Well, I don't know about you, but here NFC technology already dominates the market. You can pay contactless in every other store here, and you have no idea how incredibly convenient it is. And by the way, not only mobile phones are included in the NFC category, but also all bank and credit cards with this technology (which, by the way, are all newly issued cards from most banks). Theoretically, you don't have to have 1000 just thanks to the mobile phone of those cards. And that big disadvantage seems more like an advantage to me. The version definitely sounds much safer to me if I simply swipe my phone over the terminal and immediately see how much it cost me on the display, rather than finding out how much was deducted from my account at home. And I'm not talking about the protection of personal data, because the entire BLE account will have to contain at least your real name and photo, so that salespeople can identify you among other customers. NFC seems to me to be a much more logical and meaningful feature that can work alongside BLE.
NFC works, and well. No need for any BLEeeee!
I share the opinion that Apple fell asleep with NFC. If he wasn't so proud, he would have recognized the mistake and implemented this functionality. However, Pride precedes the fall. And that's how it really looks so far. I'm afraid the same applies to the topic of other resolutions or screen sizes. iOS is a closed system into which no one can see, and iOS 7 is only a cosmetic change. Nothing major happened. At the same time, what birth pains led to his birth. Minimal lag and a number of completely unusable beta versions confirm this.
Apple's competitive advantage over Google or Microsoft is only in the number of applications, quality applications. The moment Apple changes the aspect ratio, as the saying goes, "put yourself in your own shoes" and the moment they don't change it, so too. So, in my opinion, it is quite trapped and that is why it comes with "innovations" such as a breast print reader or a 64 bit processor. Sure, it's a nice thing, but I would have expected more. Definitely for the money.
And I can't ignore the fact that Apple mocked Samsung and Nokia for plastic phones. Well, now he's going to make one himself.
Personally, I am disappointed and take off my rose-colored glasses.
Totally agree, Apple has missed the train. I myself switched to iPhone a year and a half ago from Android. It was a big disappointment, although I've gotten used to it, but I'll get rid of it soon. The reasons would be on a whole page.
This is the worry about the fate of the iPhone, when there is a queue for "something" from Microsoft, then I will start to worry.