I don't follow, and I read the privacy policy you posted. Let's remember this isn't everyone with an iDevice that will be bombarded but people 1) who have installed the app on their device, 2) have the app active in some sense on their device, and 3) are in the store in a certain area. How is that intrusive when the the consumer has to put so much effort to get iBeacons to show up.
Well, little things like
... record, determine or use information about or from another content delivery platform (for example, to unlock potential rewards or offers based on your watching of a specific a commercial or show that is broadcast on your television or on the web, the shopkick application may ask you to open the app while you are watching TV, and then we may record or analyze the audio signal from the television set via the shopkick app and your cell phone’s microphone, to determine the commercial, and/or program...
or
...We may also use additional methods to collect your Personal Information when you are physically visiting the store of one of our Affiliated Partners, such as by using barcode scanning and check-in and presence location data gleaned from your mobile device...
or
...we may receive information about transactions that you make at an Affiliated Partner including the Affiliated Partner name, the location, the date and time, the transaction amount, the purchased items and other personal information about you (“Transaction Data”), from payment processing vendors, from banks or from credit or debit card networks or issuers...
or an open--ended
...We use Personal Information only for the following purposes: (i) to administer the Services, (ii) to provide, improve and optimize the Services, (iii) to personalize your experience, (iv) to provide you with software updates and/or product announcements, (v) to better understand users’ needs and interests, and (vi) to provide you with further information and offers from us that we believe you may find useful or interesting, such as targeted advertising and promotional campaigns...
Thats not even getting into the data matching and sharing of transaction and personal travel details between "affiliated partners" . You really don't see anything a typical user might not anticipate as a by-product of simply opening the app?
Carrots. Much like free Google services but much more intrusive, detailed and personal and far less controlled.
I don't follow, and I read the privacy policy you posted. Let's remember this isn't everyone with an iDevice that will be bombarded but people 1) who have installed the app on their device, 2) have the app active in some sense on their device, and 3) are in the store in a certain area. How is that intrusive when the the consumer has to put so much effort to get iBeacons to show up.
Well, little things like
... record, determine or use information about or from another content delivery platform (for example, to unlock potential rewards or offers based on your watching of a specific a commercial or show that is broadcast on your television or on the web, the shopkick application may ask you to open the app while you are watching TV, and then we may record or analyze the audio signal from the television set via the shopkick app and your cell phone’s microphone, to determine the commercial, and/or program...
or
...Personal Information that we might collect may include things like your name, mobile phone number, other phone numbers, email address, home address, and, if you elect to share this information with us, store loyalty card numbers for our Affiliated Partners’ (as defined below) stores and other stores, and, where useful for your use of the service, credit card, debit card or store card information....
or
...We may also use additional methods to collect your Personal Information when you are physically visiting the store of one of our Affiliated Partners, such as by using barcode scanning and check-in and presence location data gleaned from your mobile device...
or
...we may receive information about transactions that you make at an Affiliated Partner including the Affiliated Partner name, the location, the date and time, the transaction amount, the purchased items and other personal information about you (“Transaction Data”), from payment processing vendors, from banks or from credit or debit card networks or issuers...
or an open--ended
...We use Personal Information only for the following purposes: (i) to administer the Services, (ii) to provide, improve and optimize the Services, (iii) to personalize your experience, (iv) to provide you with software updates and/or product announcements, (v) to better understand users’ needs and interests, and (vi) to provide you with further information and offers from us that we believe you may find useful or interesting, such as targeted advertising and promotional campaigns...
Thats not even getting into the data matching and sharing of transaction and personal travel details between "affiliated partners" . You really don't see anything a typical user might not anticipate as a by-product of simply opening the app?
Have you ever read the iTunes or Amazon or any other Terms of Conditions? I'd think a store would have such information on file so I don't have to manually put it in every time I make a digital purchase. That's just boiler plate stuff, nothing nefarious. Let me know when it says they can sew my mouth onto the buttonhole onto another user.
" I can also see why so many companies would want to deploy ibeacon, it's a cheap way to spam people on their mobile devices."
Do you have a citation, link or study to support this?
There's a citation right in this article
"Miles notes that it is extremely difficult to cut through "the noise" at huge events like the World Cup, which are saturated thousands of advertisements. With iBeacon, Coca-Cola would be able to offer a new and unique delivery system that would help its fixtures stand apart from the ad overload."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum
You can choose to listen or not and what/when to listen -- if you don't like the content, don't listen!
If this becomes nothing more then ads/spam, people won't be listening
Have you ever read the iTunes or Amazon or any other Terms of Conditions? I'd think a store would have such information on file so I don't have to manually put it in every time I make a digital purchase. That's just boiler plate stuff, nothing nefarious. .
Yes I have.read them, tho the iTunes one was a challenge. As detail oriented as you normally are I'm surprised you didn't understand it's not about what the store you agreed to share some details with knows about you. You've now also agreed the store can also send it to Shopkick who can also send it to other retailers in their group of "affiliated partners" as well as use it for a multitude of poorly defined purposes as they see fit, including continued tracking when visiting other "partners" you may not have specifically noted.
By the way when did activating your microphone when opening the Shopkick app become boilerplate stuff? Their example was just that, not a restriction.
There's a citation right in this article
"Miles notes that it is extremely difficult to cut through "the noise" at huge events like the World Cup, which are saturated thousands of advertisements. With iBeacon, Coca-Cola would be able to offer a new and unique delivery system that would help its fixtures stand apart from the ad overload."
If this becomes nothing more then ads/spam, people won't be listening
That's the risk all types of advertisements (which include promotions and whatnot) take. At least with iBeacons there is little chance I'll have an app I don't want so unless that app vendor has soldout I won't be getting iBeacons from too many things that aren't in my interest wheelhouse, and if I do then I can simply delete the app or turn off iBeacons for that particular app.
There's a citation right in this article
"Miles notes that it is extremely difficult to cut through "the noise" at huge events like the World Cup, which are saturated thousands of advertisements. With iBeacon, Coca-Cola would be able to offer a new and unique delivery system that would help its fixtures stand apart from the ad overload.
So focusing the ads to what people are interested in, when and where they are interested in it -- adds to the spam received by an individual??? Just the opposite, I suspect!
You can choose to listen or not and what/when to listen -- if you don't like the content, don't listen!
If this becomes nothing more then ads/spam, people won't be listening
My point exactly! If a spam falls in the ether, and nobody is listening... does it make a noise?
Edit:
BTW, do you receive AI notifications when somebody quotes you or posts to a thread you've posted to? If so. Why?
Yes I have.read them, tho the iTunes one was a challenge. As detail oriented as you normally are I'm surprised you didn't understand it's not about what the store you agreed to share some details with knows about you. You've now also agreed the store can also send it to Shopkick who can also send it to other retailers in their group of "affiliated partners" as well as use it for a multitude of poorly defined purposes as they see fit.
By the way when did activating your microphone when opening the Shopkick app become boilerplate stuff? Their example was just that, not a restriction.
If it didn't say "...the shopkick application may ask you…" I would concede that it's intrusive but it's not simply gaining unfettered access by enabling your microphone (or camera or anything else) simply by agreeing to the terms. Apple will have something similar since it uses your microphone for their Siri service. That's why it's boilerplate and to their credit Shopkick made it more specific than I would have expected. The same thing applies to Google Now, S-Voice, and Cortana.
This will be a complete waste of money for Coca Cola in my opinion. People complain with Google and advertising, now I'm amazed from all the comments so far, encouraging this beacon use. I can't think of anything worse than being bombarded with vouchers and offers which in my view is mostly junk mail, contributing to make the battery performance even worse.
It's an opt-in. Don't want to be bombarded? Don't download use the app.
For Google, it's an opt-out and if you do then Google will find away to track you anyways.
Finally the IBeacon (or anyone else) can not detect that we are listening, what we are listening to, where we are while we are listening.
Really? I am not at all up to speed on this technology but I thought their ability to track you is why people are concerned about the privacy aspect in iBeacons. If you accept the iBeacon doesn't the app have the ability to phone home?
Are you kidding? Do you know what the World Cup is?
Coca Cola has this great opportunity at the World Cup because it is a sponsor.
iBeacon is relatively inexpensive to deploy and every sane company would jump on this opportunity.
Also iPhone users chose to receive the iBeacon, it is not forced on them. They have to "opt -in" first and can "opt-out" at any time.
BlueTooth LE (Low Energy) power consumption is negligible unlike NFC.
So for the cost of setting up iBeacon which would run into the 100,000's of pounds is going to make them sell more Coca Cola to give them a better return on investment? Isn't having the Coca Cola logo plastered all round the stadium and on TV enough to get into the psyche of people attending the event. Do we really need notifications binging are phones to enter competitions and buy their fizzy drinks?
So for the cost of setting up iBeacon which would run into the 100,000's of pounds is going to make them sell more Coca Cola to give them a better return on investment? Isn't having the Coca Cola logo plastered all round the stadium and on TV enough to get into the psyche of people attending the event. Do we really need notifications binging are phones to enter competitions and buy their fizzy drinks?
People know that Coca-Cola exists, right? Do we really need ads plastered which are costing them millions upon millions for not just their creation but for the right to place them? If you know anything about marketing you know that it is worth it. If you know anything about iBeacons you'd know that it's an inexpensive solution that even now is getting you and I to talk about Coca-Cola just on the idea that they are mulling over utilizing iBeacons. If you can't see the value in that then I don't know what to tell you.
People know that Coca-Cola exists, right? Do we really need ads plastered which are costing them millions upon millions for not just their creation but for the right to place them? If you know anything about marketing you know that it is worth it. If you know anything about iBeacons you'd know that it's an inexpensive solution that even now is getting you and I to talk about Coca-Cola just on the idea that they are mulling over utilizing iBeacons. If you can't see the value in that then I don't know what to tell you.
So more adverts will make you buy something from them then? Let's have adverts every 5 mins in TV programs shall we. Having junk email delivered to your phone is bad enough having it automatically delivered by ibeacon is enough to turn you against the companies sending the adverts. The ibeacon could have a negative effect and certainly IMHO not worth the outlay for the world cup, especially as it's an immature technology .
Even when ibeacon was tested in Apple stores it was perceived as hit or miss.
If it was such a marvellous marketing opportunity, Coca Cola wouldn't just be mulling it over.
So more adverts will make you buy something from them then?
Me, personally, for this one product? No likely. But in the aggregate advertisements works. This is undeniable!
Let's have adverts every 5 mins in TV programs shall we.
So now you'e moved to hyperbole. Not a good sign, but note that you can get ads before and within 5 minutes for various types of programming, including TV shows that are viewed online at Hulu, YouTube, Comedy Central, etc.
Having junk email delivered to your phone is bad enough having it automatically delivered by ibeacon is enough to turn you against the companies sending the adverts.
Now you're just making stuff up trying to equate spam email that is generated using algorithms to generate email addresses to the user 1) choosing to download an app, 2) choosing to run an app, 3) choosing to allow iBeacons for that app, as well as ignoring that any one of those can be turned off and yet you can't stop email spam outside of you or your email provider creating spam filters more intelligent than the spammers ability to spam random emails.
The ibeacon could have a negative effect and certainly IMHO not worth the outlay for the world cup, especially as it's an immature technology .
Of course it could just that's a pointless statement since anything can have a negative effect. Cellphones can have a negative effect but I don't see rallying against them.
Even when ibeacon was tested in Apple stores it was perceived as hit or miss.
That sentence makes no sense so we'll classify it as a miss.
If it was such a marvellous marketing opportunity, Coca Cola wouldn't just be mulling it over.
So you don't think innumerable sites commenting on Coca-Cola utilizing a new technology is bad marketing? It's clear you have no concept of marketing.
PS: Don't you have some textile factories to destroy?
So more adverts will make you buy something from them then? Let's have adverts every 5 mins in TV programs shall we. Having junk email delivered to your phone is bad enough having it automatically delivered by ibeacon is enough to turn you against the companies sending the adverts. The ibeacon could have a negative effect and certainly IMHO not worth the outlay for the world cup, especially as it's an immature technology .
Even when ibeacon was tested in Apple stores it was perceived as hit or miss.
If it was such a marvellous marketing opportunity, Coca Cola wouldn't just be mulling it over.
iBeacons are not eMails and they are so much more than advertising. iBeacons can be used as a tour guide in a museum, a smart location reminder, a smart indoor map, a smart coupon book and much much more... Not to mention it is all dynamic and context sensitive...
To effectively deploy iBeacon in all the stadiums of the World Cup is not trivial. The World Cup is a very dynamic international event where many languages are spoken, many stadiums architectures and locations to cover, many different cultures and many different businesses and offers that may vary from game to game. They have to mull it over carefully and clearly define the scope and all the details.
One thing is certain: There will be millions of iOS devices at the World Cup.
Me, personally, for this one product? No likely. But in the aggregate advertisements works. This is undeniable!
So now you'e moved to hyperbole. Not a good sign, but note that you can get ads before and within 5 minutes for various types of programming, including TV shows that are viewed online at Hulu, YouTube, Comedy Central, etc.
Now you're just making stuff up trying to equate spam email that is generated using algorithms to generate email addresses to the user 1) choosing to download an app, 2) choosing to run an app, 3) choosing to allow iBeacons for that app, as well as ignoring that any one of those can be turned off and yet you can't stop email spam outside of you or your email provider creating spam filters more intelligent than the spammers ability to spam random emails.
Of course it could just that's a pointless statement since anything can have a negative effect. Cellphones can have a negative effect but I don't see rallying against them.
That sentence makes no sense so we'll classify it as a miss.
So you don't think innumerable sites commenting on Coca-Cola utilizing a new technology is bad marketing? It's clear you have no concept of marketing.
PS: Don't you have some textile factories to destroy?
Read the verge review on their findings with ibeacon in the Apple stores of New York, see if you think it's a miss or a hit. If Apple can't get it to work right, then what hope has Coca Cola. Technology is still immature, not yet ready for prime time.
Read the verge review on their findings with ibeacon in the Apple stores of New York, see if you think it's a miss or a hit. If Apple can't get it to work right, then what hope has Coca Cola. Technology is still immature, not yet ready for prime time.
1) If you're going to reference a particular article it's proper etiquette to create a hyperlink to that article. You may even want to actually create a response around a particular quote of that article to support your argument and if are truly attempting to be objective you could also acknowledge the positives in their article (since you've only taken a negative view) as to come across as someone whose words are worth reading. not just some anti-Apple troll or shill.
2) Their article testing Apple's Day 0 use of iBeacons make note good and bad results based on their assumed expectations. They also note they were told by an Apple employee that it's a "work in progress." What I don't get is why you think A) Apple's backend APIs for iBeacons are at fault (not the HW for the implementation), and why you think the whole thing should be scrapped because it wasn't perfect in every spot out of the gate, in every store, the day it went live.
3) So the technology is new — so you pen it as being immature — and therefore shouldn't be used by anyone, anywhere until it has no bugs. How do you get rid of bugs if you don't deploy in some level to work out issues? Name one successful Apple product or service that didn't have at least one bug or stumbling block
4) Finally (and again) what about the iBeacon API did Apple not get right?
Finally the IBeacon (or anyone else) can not detect that we are listening, what we are listening to, where we are while we are listening.
Really? I am not at all up to speed on this technology but I thought their ability to track you is why people are concerned about the privacy aspect in iBeacons. If you accept the iBeacon doesn't the app have the ability to phone home?
I want to answer this carefully.
The short answer is No, iBeacons cannot track you!
Here's why:
iBeacons use Bluetooth 4.0 which is different from earlier Bluetooth -- no pairing, no need for 2-way communication or data exchange
you can listen only for iBeacons -- the iBeacon cannot detect that you are listening
you can turn off WiFi and Cell radios on your iDevice so the app detecting an iBeacon cannot "phone home"
an iOS app listening for iBeacons uses Apple Location Services
you have to opt-in to allow the app to use Location Services
you have to opt-in to receive push notifications (the app "phones home" and the app on the "home computer" sends you a push notification
you have to have installed the app on your device, launched it and opted-in
Any app running on your iDevice has the ability to "phone home" if the appropriate "radio" is available -- Consider an app:
reading a QR or bar code
accessing a web site via a URL, RSS, FTP, etc.
using GPS or WiFi to determine your location by trilateration
performing a web search
running "street view"
running any maps app
running any mass transit app
running any navigation app
running any monitoring app (security, HVAC, medical, jogging, workout, etc.)
uploading a picture (containing location data) to say, Drop Box
posting to AI, FaceBook, Twitter, etc.
using "data compression" to reduce cell data usage
to "find your phone"
buying anything in a stick and stucco store
buying or doing anything online
doing geofencing
performing cloud synching
receiving streamed music or video
Sure, an app listening for iBeacons could determine where you are by trilateration (if 3 iBeacons are in range and if the app knows the iBeacons' lat/long) -- just like it can with WiFi Towers and GPS Satellites. That app can "phone home" and provide whatever data "home" asks for.
But it is the app that is doing this not the iBeacon. It's "I am here" instead of "You are here".
And in a curated environment such as Apple's App Store, apps are required to "play by the rules", have the user opt-in and Apple does some testing and verification that the app is performing as advertised. Any app found to be violating the rules is removed fro the App Store.
Theoretically, in addition to iBeacon listening, an app could use Core Bluetooth APIs to communicate with other Bluetooth devices and exchange data with them. However, at this point in time, you are limited in what you can do: slow speed; small data packets, e.g. 29 bytes; virtual device identifiers *
* with iBeacons protocol Apple requires that each iBeacon use an unique UUID (analogous to a MAC address), plus optional major and minor IDs. Likely, the UUID will represent the enterprise (Apple, Macys, Safeway, Coca-Cola, Qualcomm Stadium, etc.). The major and minor IDs would identify the store and aisle number, for example. The app uses Location Services to tell the iDevice: I want to listen for these specific UUIDS (companies) -- up to 20 UUIDS at once. Optionally you can filter by major and minor IDs.
With Apple's current implementation of Core Bluetooth, when it detects a Bluetooth 4.0 device (not using iBeacon protocol) it assigns a virtual UUID to the device when it delivers it to the app. Practically, this means an app can communicate with a Bluetooth 4.0 device -- but the app doesn't know whose it is.
It's an opt-in. Don't want to be bombarded? Don't download use the app.
For Google, it's an opt-out and if you do then Google will find away to track you anyways.
When on can you not filter by store, so only allow notifications from certain stores, or is it just a free for all?
When using Apple's iBeacon protocol, the app uses Location Services to request filtering by:
UUID
Major ID (optional)
Minor ID (optional)
Range
UUID is an unique ID assigned by the creator of the app -- typically it will represent an enterprise, such as Apple.
Major ID might be used to represent store #15, say Apple Palo Alto
Minor ID might be used to represent aisle #3 in store #15, say the iMac display,
Range is Immediate: 1-2 feet; Near: 4-8 feet; Far: 8-200 feet; Out-of-range: > 200 feet. These are approximate -- more accuracy the nearer the iBeacon.
Here's a scenario:
Say you are going San Francisco.
You ask someone like a Yelp app "what are the top 20 Italian restaurants" in whatever area (zip code xxxxx)
The Yelp app on your iPhone contacts the Yelp website and gets the UUID and (optional) Major ID for the top-rated Italian restaurants in the area
The iPhone app begins listening for only these locations.
You opt-in to receive alerts and push notifications
If you come in range of any of these restaurants, you receive an alert if the app is running in the foreground or a push notification if the app is running in the background.
Comments
Well, little things like
... record, determine or use information about or from another content delivery platform (for example, to unlock potential rewards or offers based on your watching of a specific a commercial or show that is broadcast on your television or on the web, the shopkick application may ask you to open the app while you are watching TV, and then we may record or analyze the audio signal from the television set via the shopkick app and your cell phone’s microphone, to determine the commercial, and/or program...
or
...We may also use additional methods to collect your Personal Information when you are physically visiting the store of one of our Affiliated Partners, such as by using barcode scanning and check-in and presence location data gleaned from your mobile device...
or
...we may receive information about transactions that you make at an Affiliated Partner including the Affiliated Partner name, the location, the date and time, the transaction amount, the purchased items and other personal information about you (“Transaction Data”), from payment processing vendors, from banks or from credit or debit card networks or issuers...
or an open--ended
...We use Personal Information only for the following purposes: (i) to administer the Services, (ii) to provide, improve and optimize the Services, (iii) to personalize your experience, (iv) to provide you with software updates and/or product announcements, (v) to better understand users’ needs and interests, and (vi) to provide you with further information and offers from us that we believe you may find useful or interesting, such as targeted advertising and promotional campaigns...
Thats not even getting into the data matching and sharing of transaction and personal travel details between "affiliated partners" . You really don't see anything a typical user might not anticipate as a by-product of simply opening the app?
^^^ Exactly!
Have you ever read the iTunes or Amazon or any other Terms of Conditions? I'd think a store would have such information on file so I don't have to manually put it in every time I make a digital purchase. That's just boiler plate stuff, nothing nefarious. Let me know when it says they can sew my mouth onto the buttonhole onto another user.
" I can also see why so many companies would want to deploy ibeacon, it's a cheap way to spam people on their mobile devices."
Do you have a citation, link or study to support this?
There's a citation right in this article
"Miles notes that it is extremely difficult to cut through "the noise" at huge events like the World Cup, which are saturated thousands of advertisements. With iBeacon, Coca-Cola would be able to offer a new and unique delivery system that would help its fixtures stand apart from the ad overload."
Quote:
You can choose to listen or not and what/when to listen -- if you don't like the content, don't listen!
If this becomes nothing more then ads/spam, people won't be listening
Yes I have.read them, tho the iTunes one was a challenge. As detail oriented as you normally are I'm surprised you didn't understand it's not about what the store you agreed to share some details with knows about you. You've now also agreed the store can also send it to Shopkick who can also send it to other retailers in their group of "affiliated partners" as well as use it for a multitude of poorly defined purposes as they see fit, including continued tracking when visiting other "partners" you may not have specifically noted.
By the way when did activating your microphone when opening the Shopkick app become boilerplate stuff? Their example was just that, not a restriction.
That's the risk all types of advertisements (which include promotions and whatnot) take. At least with iBeacons there is little chance I'll have an app I don't want so unless that app vendor has soldout I won't be getting iBeacons from too many things that aren't in my interest wheelhouse, and if I do then I can simply delete the app or turn off iBeacons for that particular app.
So focusing the ads to what people are interested in, when and where they are interested in it -- adds to the spam received by an individual??? Just the opposite, I suspect!
My point exactly! If a spam falls in the ether, and nobody is listening... does it make a noise?
Edit:
BTW, do you receive AI notifications when somebody quotes you or posts to a thread you've posted to? If so. Why?
If it didn't say "...the shopkick application may ask you…" I would concede that it's intrusive but it's not simply gaining unfettered access by enabling your microphone (or camera or anything else) simply by agreeing to the terms. Apple will have something similar since it uses your microphone for their Siri service. That's why it's boilerplate and to their credit Shopkick made it more specific than I would have expected. The same thing applies to Google Now, S-Voice, and Cortana.
It's an opt-in. Don't want to be bombarded? Don't download use the app.
For Google, it's an opt-out and if you do then Google will find away to track you anyways.
Finally the IBeacon (or anyone else) can not detect that we are listening, what we are listening to, where we are while we are listening.
Really? I am not at all up to speed on this technology but I thought their ability to track you is why people are concerned about the privacy aspect in iBeacons. If you accept the iBeacon doesn't the app have the ability to phone home?
So for the cost of setting up iBeacon which would run into the 100,000's of pounds is going to make them sell more Coca Cola to give them a better return on investment? Isn't having the Coca Cola logo plastered all round the stadium and on TV enough to get into the psyche of people attending the event. Do we really need notifications binging are phones to enter competitions and buy their fizzy drinks?
People know that Coca-Cola exists, right? Do we really need ads plastered which are costing them millions upon millions for not just their creation but for the right to place them? If you know anything about marketing you know that it is worth it. If you know anything about iBeacons you'd know that it's an inexpensive solution that even now is getting you and I to talk about Coca-Cola just on the idea that they are mulling over utilizing iBeacons. If you can't see the value in that then I don't know what to tell you.
So more adverts will make you buy something from them then? Let's have adverts every 5 mins in TV programs shall we. Having junk email delivered to your phone is bad enough having it automatically delivered by ibeacon is enough to turn you against the companies sending the adverts. The ibeacon could have a negative effect and certainly IMHO not worth the outlay for the world cup, especially as it's an immature technology .
Even when ibeacon was tested in Apple stores it was perceived as hit or miss.
If it was such a marvellous marketing opportunity, Coca Cola wouldn't just be mulling it over.
When on can you not filter by store, so only allow notifications from certain stores, or is it just a free for all?
Me, personally, for this one product? No likely. But in the aggregate advertisements works. This is undeniable!
So now you'e moved to hyperbole. Not a good sign, but note that you can get ads before and within 5 minutes for various types of programming, including TV shows that are viewed online at Hulu, YouTube, Comedy Central, etc.
Now you're just making stuff up trying to equate spam email that is generated using algorithms to generate email addresses to the user 1) choosing to download an app, 2) choosing to run an app, 3) choosing to allow iBeacons for that app, as well as ignoring that any one of those can be turned off and yet you can't stop email spam outside of you or your email provider creating spam filters more intelligent than the spammers ability to spam random emails.
Of course it could just that's a pointless statement since anything can have a negative effect. Cellphones can have a negative effect but I don't see rallying against them.
That sentence makes no sense so we'll classify it as a miss.
So you don't think innumerable sites commenting on Coca-Cola utilizing a new technology is bad marketing? It's clear you have no concept of marketing.
PS: Don't you have some textile factories to destroy?
So more adverts will make you buy something from them then? Let's have adverts every 5 mins in TV programs shall we. Having junk email delivered to your phone is bad enough having it automatically delivered by ibeacon is enough to turn you against the companies sending the adverts. The ibeacon could have a negative effect and certainly IMHO not worth the outlay for the world cup, especially as it's an immature technology .
Even when ibeacon was tested in Apple stores it was perceived as hit or miss.
If it was such a marvellous marketing opportunity, Coca Cola wouldn't just be mulling it over.
iBeacons are not eMails and they are so much more than advertising. iBeacons can be used as a tour guide in a museum, a smart location reminder, a smart indoor map, a smart coupon book and much much more... Not to mention it is all dynamic and context sensitive...
To effectively deploy iBeacon in all the stadiums of the World Cup is not trivial. The World Cup is a very dynamic international event where many languages are spoken, many stadiums architectures and locations to cover, many different cultures and many different businesses and offers that may vary from game to game. They have to mull it over carefully and clearly define the scope and all the details.
One thing is certain: There will be millions of iOS devices at the World Cup.
Read the verge review on their findings with ibeacon in the Apple stores of New York, see if you think it's a miss or a hit. If Apple can't get it to work right, then what hope has Coca Cola. Technology is still immature, not yet ready for prime time.
1) If you're going to reference a particular article it's proper etiquette to create a hyperlink to that article. You may even want to actually create a response around a particular quote of that article to support your argument and if are truly attempting to be objective you could also acknowledge the positives in their article (since you've only taken a negative view) as to come across as someone whose words are worth reading. not just some anti-Apple troll or shill.
2) Their article testing Apple's Day 0 use of iBeacons make note good and bad results based on their assumed expectations. They also note they were told by an Apple employee that it's a "work in progress." What I don't get is why you think A) Apple's backend APIs for iBeacons are at fault (not the HW for the implementation), and
3) So the technology is new — so you pen it as being immature — and therefore shouldn't be used by anyone, anywhere until it has no bugs. How do you get rid of bugs if you don't deploy in some level to work out issues? Name one successful Apple product or service that didn't have at least one bug or stumbling block
4) Finally (and again) what about the iBeacon API did Apple not get right?
I want to answer this carefully.
The short answer is No, iBeacons cannot track you!
Here's why:
Any app running on your iDevice has the ability to "phone home" if the appropriate "radio" is available -- Consider an app:
Sure, an app listening for iBeacons could determine where you are by trilateration (if 3 iBeacons are in range and if the app knows the iBeacons' lat/long) -- just like it can with WiFi Towers and GPS Satellites. That app can "phone home" and provide whatever data "home" asks for.
But it is the app that is doing this not the iBeacon. It's "I am here" instead of "You are here".
And in a curated environment such as Apple's App Store, apps are required to "play by the rules", have the user opt-in and Apple does some testing and verification that the app is performing as advertised. Any app found to be violating the rules is removed fro the App Store.
Theoretically, in addition to iBeacon listening, an app could use Core Bluetooth APIs to communicate with other Bluetooth devices and exchange data with them. However, at this point in time, you are limited in what you can do: slow speed; small data packets, e.g. 29 bytes; virtual device identifiers *
* with iBeacons protocol Apple requires that each iBeacon use an unique UUID (analogous to a MAC address), plus optional major and minor IDs. Likely, the UUID will represent the enterprise (Apple, Macys, Safeway, Coca-Cola, Qualcomm Stadium, etc.). The major and minor IDs would identify the store and aisle number, for example. The app uses Location Services to tell the iDevice: I want to listen for these specific UUIDS (companies) -- up to 20 UUIDS at once. Optionally you can filter by major and minor IDs.
With Apple's current implementation of Core Bluetooth, when it detects a Bluetooth 4.0 device (not using iBeacon protocol) it assigns a virtual UUID to the device when it delivers it to the app. Practically, this means an app can communicate with a Bluetooth 4.0 device -- but the app doesn't know whose it is.
When using Apple's iBeacon protocol, the app uses Location Services to request filtering by:
UUID is an unique ID assigned by the creator of the app -- typically it will represent an enterprise, such as Apple.
Major ID might be used to represent store #15, say Apple Palo Alto
Minor ID might be used to represent aisle #3 in store #15, say the iMac display,
Range is Immediate: 1-2 feet; Near: 4-8 feet; Far: 8-200 feet; Out-of-range: > 200 feet. These are approximate -- more accuracy the nearer the iBeacon.
Here's a scenario:
If you come in range of any of these restaurants, you receive an alert if the app is running in the foreground or a push notification if the app is running in the background.
The experience is similar to receiving iMessages.