Location, Location, Location: Apple To Reveal Plans For iBeacon At WWDC 2014

In the run-up to WWDC 2014, more news and murmurs emerge. One of the latest comes from The Wall Street Journal, which reports that Apple is expected to provide information regarding its plans for its iBeacon technology at the upcoming conference. According to the publication:

Apple is expected to reveal more iBeacon plans at its World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco starting Monday, where it also intends to preview new versions of its iOS mobile-operating system and Mac OSX software. To promote iBeacon, Apple will place beacons throughout Moscone Center and offer sessions for developers on how to implement the technology.

Quite possibly, Apple's iBeacon-related announcements have to do with the location technology's integration with iOS 8 and Apple's rumored mobile payment service. They may also refer to the use of iBeacon in other companies' services. Introduced by Apple (although just in passing) at last year's WWDC, iBeacon is an indoor positioning system that uses Bluetooth low energy proximity sensing to notify nearby mobile devices with a compatible operating system (e.g. iOS 7) or app (e.g. MLB.com At The Ballpark). Some recent and upcoming uses of iBeacon have been announced by MLB.com At The Ballpark, NFL, Virgin Atlantic, Coachella, and New York City’s BeaconCrawl. Last February, Apple rolled out its specification for iBeacon. Under its Made for iPhone program, manufacturers can attach the iBeacon name to their products if they meet certain criteria specified by Apple. We'll know for sure what Apple's iBeacon-related announcements, if any, are in a few hours, when the company presents its keynote address to kick off WWDC 2014. Apple will be live-streaming the presentation here, starting at 10 a.m. PDT on Moday, June 2. Make sure to join us here on AppAdvice as we provide full coverage of WWDC before, during, and after the event. For a rundown of what we can expect from the event, check out The AppAdvice Week In Review: All About Apple’s WWDC 2014.

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