Estimote, maker of hardware beacon devices and a platform for managing software that uses beacon connections, such as Apple’s iBeacon system, has just launched its Indoor Location features. The Indoor Location system that Estimote provides works with the company’s existing beacons, and its updated iOS app. Setup is simple, Estimote says, and requires simply arranging a minimum of four of its devices in a room to define a space.
The Indoor Location feature uses beacons placed around a room to map a space using a quick orientation process using the app, with directions provided by the software itself. Once you’ve spent a few minutes setting up the relative location positioning, it’ll let you generate a code snippet that you can then inject in other apps to give them indoor location awareness. If you’re setting up a gallery exhibit, for instance, you could incorporate Estimote Indoor Location to give your visitors precise, step-by-step instructions about navigating the various installations as they walk around your space.
Estimote had previously offered proximity-gate functionality, meaning that a beacon could be made aware of your device once it was within range, and start some behavior accordingly, with varied proximity distances available depending on a developer’s needs. What they couldn’t do, was give precise indoor location; proximity was more of an on/off flag, with variable distance, rather than a pinpoint measurement system, which Indoor Location can actually provide.
Of course, aside from offering consumer-facing features like detailed indoor guidance, Estimote’s new features can provide businesses with more granular info about shopper or visitor behavior. Tracking a visitor’s path through an establishment can provide literal path analysis, especially if a business is using other Estimote features to track engagement with certain displays, purchase conversion and more.
Estimote is trying to own the beacon hardware/platform space, and this is another step towards that goal. Launch partners include Cisco and other big name players, so they appear to be doing something right for now.
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Currently, the SDK gives developers access to three different APIs. Developers will be able to use raw sensor data from connected apps and devices through the Sensor API. Using these APIs, a running app could register with a heart rate monitor, for example, to get its data every five seconds so it can display this info and give feedback to a runner.
With the help of the History API, developers can also get access to a user’s fitness history and use this data in their own apps. It allows developers to import batch data to Fit and read information that was recorded using other apps.
Visa wants to make the process of paying for goods on your phone or iPad as easy as swiping your credit or debit card at an offline retailer.To do so, it’s adapting to Internet retail with the launch of Visa Checkout, a new payment option that will allow users to speed through the online checkout process in just a few steps.Visa is introducing a username and password system for making payments, which would eliminate the need to enter a 16-digit credit card number.“Merchants want to sell, they want to convert cardholders to sales,” said Sam Shrauger, Visa’s senior vice president of digital solutions, at an event announcing the launch. “People want to buy, people want to enjoy what they’re buying. What they don’t want to spend their time doing is paying.”
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