Samsung’s Proximity – iBeacon alternative
Last week Samsung held it’s Developer Conference in San Francisco and one of the key announcements was a new offering targeted directly at Apple’s iBeacon. The new product is called “Proxmity” and allows retailers to take advantage of beacon technology. Like the iBeacon, Proximity uses Bluetooth Low Energy beacons to enable marketers to push content to consumers based on their location. A key difference between the two implementations is that Samsung’s Proximity functions ON your mobile device. With Apple, iBeacon is enabled through various mobile apps – Proximity functions at the system level.
The tight integration provided by Samsung consists of a three-part service – an end-user app for receiving coupons and other location-based messages, an online admin console for managing campaigns and viewing analytics, and an additional mobile app for marketers to manage beacons and campaigns on the go. How this all integrates with the massive spectrum of mobile devices remains to be seen. What is for certain is that the Korean electronics giant is taking Bluetooth based marketing and location aware services seriously.