Macy's is the first retailer to use iBeacons

When I wrote the article on iBeacons, I used Macy's store as an example. Incidentally Macy's is the first retail store to use iBeacons in stores. My prediction was so accurate!!!  Also my prediction of iBeacons becoming a force in retail space is happening. GigaOm's writer Kevin Fitchard alluded that my prediction was so right. Here is the Gigaom story:

"When Apple rolled iOS 7 in June, it quietly included a proximity-based service called iBeacon, which Gigaom contributor Hari Gottipati predicted would become a force in retail and location-based services. It didn’t take long for retailers to get wise to iBeacon as well."

Full post at http://gigaom.com/2013/11/20/macys-is-the-first-retailer-to-use-apples-ibeacon-for-in-store-presence/

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With iBeacon, Apple is going to dump on NFC and embrace the internet of things

I wrote a guest post for GigaOm on iBeacons in which I detailed how Apple is going to embrace Internet of Things and dump NFC. I also detailed about significance of iBeacons in indoor location based services and in-store marketing. Google is betting on NFC, but Apple is moving forward with iBeacons. Here is the Gigaom post - With iBeacon, Apple is going to dump on NFC and embrace the internet of things.

Nor did Apple say anything about it during the iPhone event Tuesday. But I’m sure this is going to be a big deal, and startup companies like Estimote agree, announcing its support for Apple’s technology Tuesday and releasing this demonstration video. 

Why is that so? For a couple of reasons: it opens a door to new set of applications such as indoor maps and in-store marketing, it makes the internet of things a realty and it might kill NFC (near-field communications), the wireless technology most linked with mobile payments.

Even CNN picked up the article from GigaOm. Here is the CNN link.

Wall Street Journal used excerpts from my GigaOm article - What People Are Saying About the New iPhones.

Hari Gottipati writes on GigaOm about what wasn’t talked about at the launch: iBeacon, a bluetooth-powered location technology that will ship inside iOS 7.

Gottipati’s rational on why iBeacon might kill NFC:
NFC tags are pretty cheap compared to NFC chips, but NFC tags are required on each product because NFC works only in very close proximity. In theory, NFC range is up to 20cm (7.87 inches), but the actual optimal range is less than 4cm (1.57 inches). Also, mobile devices need to contain a NFC chip that can handle any NFC communications. On the other hand, iBeacons are a little expensive compared to NFC chips, but iBeacons range is up to 50 meters. Not all phones have NFC chips, but almost all have Bluetooth capability.

This kind of technology gets us closer to the Internet of Things, Gottipati writes. 

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