iBeacon gaining ground with Hudson's Bay, Lord & Taylor, Monk, and Hilton rollouts

Apple's iBeacon proximity sensor and communication technology is picking up steam as various retails stores are starting to deploy the technology to reach out to users of iOS devices and push opt-in updates on sales, rebates and other store and product-related information. Lord & Taylor (sister company of Hudson's Bay) and German restaurant group Monk as well as the Hilton group of hotels are going to rollout the technology soon. 

The Hudson's Bay is working with iBeacon provider Swirl on a system that will deliver location-aware content to its outlets. The initial rollout will target a number of Lord & Taylor and Hudson's Bay locations throughout the U.S. and Canada, including the flagship Hudson's Bay store in Toronto.  

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Apple's iBeacon hardware revealed in FCC application

Apple's iBeacon technology allows for low-powered transmitters to recognize nearby devices and push localized information. This is useful for retailers or business owners wanting to reach out to customers to push sales and product information. Various third party manufacturers have built iBeacon devices but it looks like Apple is stepping in and looking to create their own line of iBeacon optimized hardware. An FCC application revealed Apple might be considering its own iBeacon devices and while there's no indication this will be made available to to the consumer market, some analysts are seeing the potential of using iBeacons for the connected home via Apple's HomeKit which is their framework for controlling and communicating with connected devices. iBeacon has been kept generally under wraps even if the use of these devices is becoming widespread.

Retailers like Best Buy, Crate & Barrel, JCPenney, Old Navy, Sports Authority, Target and others are said to be testing the implementation of iBeacons, which are optimized for iPhones but will also work with other smartphones, albeit in a limited capacity.

Source: Appleinsider