5 ms·

Why Apple's iBeacon is about to disrupt interaction design

20 points by hansy 13y ago

spdegabrielle 13y ago
I thought it was iBacon. Honestly, the new Bluetooth in nice, but we really need iBacon.
belorn 13y ago
The article mentions the removal of the authentication step from the old bluetooth protocol, but mention then nothing about security of the new one. What about the security considerations of letting unknown devices send data to your phone?
- doe88 13y ago
  - For iBeacon you must have installed an app that monitors some iBeacon in order to get notified. - More generally, for Bluetooth LE there are security measures implemented see [1] page 1301 and [2] for all the details. [1] https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?doc_id=229737 https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?d... [2] http://www.nist.gov/customcf/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=911133 http://www.nist.gov/customcf/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=911133
  - belorn 13y ago
    "You pause in front of a concert poster on the street, pull out your phone, and you’re greeted with an option to buy tickets with a single tap." I guess before I am greeted by that concert poster, I will have to download the concert poster app. thanks for the links through. The system seems to work as I initial thought, which is why i was confused by the way it was presented in the article.
choult 13y ago
Nice bit of advertorial there - calling NFC a "predecessor" is quite the giveaway. Still, nice white paper Apple; congrats on getting Wired to regurgitate it verbatim.
- slg 13y ago
  You are being just as unfair. The two technologies aren't competing as directly as some people seem to think. The biggest separating technological factor being the long range of Bluetooth LE vs NFC. The limited range of NFC means that only one and a half of the four examples used in the article would be possible. Bluetooth LE is closer to peer-to-peer WiFi than it is NFC.
  - codeka 13y ago
    > The two technologies aren't competing as directly as some people seem to think. I think that was his point.
sliverstorm 13y ago
Interest = 0 Maybe I really am turning into a Luddite after all.
munificent 13y ago
If there was a Pulitzer Prize for linkbait tech journalism titles, surely "4 Reasons Why Apple’s iBeacon Is About to Disrupt Interaction Design" would win it. It could only be better if it was tinged with a little fear-mongering.
na85 13y ago
"Gee I'll just install this app to make it easier for companies known for their intrusive advertising to continue their in-my-face advertising." -said no-one, past present or future.
jpatokal 13y ago
Yes, iBeacon could spell the end of paging through germy old issues of People magazine before your doctor’s appointment. No, smartphones already spelled that particular end several years ago. And if you're trying to do geofenced DRM, a rather evil concept in itself, why not use GPS? Also, "dynamic hot dog coupons". That's gotta be a $3B IPO right there!
- mercuryrising 13y ago
  Actually it could be. Let's say there's this beacon software that lets you look a bit into how someone interacts. Say you get to know what 'spending tier' they're in - high, medium, or low. You also get to see how much 'social influence' they have - again, high, medium, low. Why would you give a free hot dog to someone in the low-low tier? You probably wouldn't, but right now you have to carpet bomb free stuff. Select who gets your free stuff so you can maximize your influence. Have it pop up when someone is walking down your street, at a particular time of day. When the big spender with a lot of friends walks by, drunk, at 2:30 in the morning home from the bar, send him a free sandwich coupon when he hits your street. Throw in a bag of chips and a pop, make it 'special'. Perfect advertisement to target the perfect people. Your software lets companies deliver freebies to 'important' people when they're nearby. Have some automated identity finders - find them on fb, g+, twitter, see how much reach they have. Give them some free stuff, see if they tweet about it, put them a bit higher in the ranks because they gave a good word (or any word at all).
nextw33k 13y ago
Bluetooth gorilla marketing has already been tried, the problem is that you are letting unknown people/software access your attention. Having software to map out your route through a supermarket seems stupid. The device would need to know exact items (certain items are in two places in a store) at which point why not have it message ahead to the store and them have everything bagged up ready for you? No need for giving my position away.

20 points by hansy 13y ago

I thought it was iBacon. Honestly, the new Bluetooth in nice, but we really need iBacon.

The article mentions the removal of the authentication step from the old bluetooth protocol, but mention then nothing about security of the new one. What about the security considerations of letting unknown devices send data to your phone?

doe88 13y ago
- For iBeacon you must have installed an app that monitors some iBeacon in order to get notified. - More generally, for Bluetooth LE there are security measures implemented see [1] page 1301 and [2] for all the details. [1] https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?doc_id=229737 https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?d... [2] http://www.nist.gov/customcf/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=911133 http://www.nist.gov/customcf/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=911133
- belorn 13y ago
  "You pause in front of a concert poster on the street, pull out your phone, and you’re greeted with an option to buy tickets with a single tap." I guess before I am greeted by that concert poster, I will have to download the concert poster app. thanks for the links through. The system seems to work as I initial thought, which is why i was confused by the way it was presented in the article.

choult 13y ago

Nice bit of advertorial there - calling NFC a "predecessor" is quite the giveaway. Still, nice white paper Apple; congrats on getting Wired to regurgitate it verbatim.

slg 13y ago
You are being just as unfair. The two technologies aren't competing as directly as some people seem to think. The biggest separating technological factor being the long range of Bluetooth LE vs NFC. The limited range of NFC means that only one and a half of the four examples used in the article would be possible. Bluetooth LE is closer to peer-to-peer WiFi than it is NFC.
- codeka 13y ago
  > The two technologies aren't competing as directly as some people seem to think. I think that was his point.

sliverstorm 13y ago

Interest = 0 Maybe I really am turning into a Luddite after all.

munificent 13y ago

If there was a Pulitzer Prize for linkbait tech journalism titles, surely "4 Reasons Why Apple’s iBeacon Is About to Disrupt Interaction Design" would win it. It could only be better if it was tinged with a little fear-mongering.

na85 13y ago

"Gee I'll just install this app to make it easier for companies known for their intrusive advertising to continue their in-my-face advertising." -said no-one, past present or future.

jpatokal 13y ago

Yes, iBeacon could spell the end of paging through germy old issues of People magazine before your doctor’s appointment. No, smartphones already spelled that particular end several years ago. And if you're trying to do geofenced DRM, a rather evil concept in itself, why not use GPS? Also, "dynamic hot dog coupons". That's gotta be a $3B IPO right there!

mercuryrising 13y ago
Actually it could be. Let's say there's this beacon software that lets you look a bit into how someone interacts. Say you get to know what 'spending tier' they're in - high, medium, or low. You also get to see how much 'social influence' they have - again, high, medium, low. Why would you give a free hot dog to someone in the low-low tier? You probably wouldn't, but right now you have to carpet bomb free stuff. Select who gets your free stuff so you can maximize your influence. Have it pop up when someone is walking down your street, at a particular time of day. When the big spender with a lot of friends walks by, drunk, at 2:30 in the morning home from the bar, send him a free sandwich coupon when he hits your street. Throw in a bag of chips and a pop, make it 'special'. Perfect advertisement to target the perfect people. Your software lets companies deliver freebies to 'important' people when they're nearby. Have some automated identity finders - find them on fb, g+, twitter, see how much reach they have. Give them some free stuff, see if they tweet about it, put them a bit higher in the ranks because they gave a good word (or any word at all).

nextw33k 13y ago

Bluetooth gorilla marketing has already been tried, the problem is that you are letting unknown people/software access your attention. Having software to map out your route through a supermarket seems stupid. The device would need to know exact items (certain items are in two places in a store) at which point why not have it message ahead to the store and them have everything bagged up ready for you? No need for giving my position away.