Author: Julie Campbell

Geolocation technology used by GE Lighting and ByteLight in store

| June 4, 2014

These two companies have come together to make it possible for retailers to engage shoppers with LED.

GE Lighting and ByteLight have announced their next generation use of LED lighting fixtures which will provide retailers with the opportunity to be able to communicate with the smartphones and tablets of consumers while they are in-store, through the use of geolocation technology.

The GE LED infrastructure could give retailers the chance to offer exciting location based services.

This innovative geolocation technology based solution uses the IS series of the Lumination™ LED Luminaire from GE. It will be unveiled in Las Vegas, this week, at the LIGHTFAIR® International 2014 at the company’s booth. The purpose of using the lighting for this reason is, according to GE, one way for retailers to “go beyond the traditional ROI of energy and maintenance savings to fundamentally change the way people shop by combining data with location.”

The indoor geolocation technology from ByteLight is embedded within the LED fixtures from GE.

Those LED lights will then be able to provide retailers with a number of different applications, such as the ability to identify exactly where consumers are located through the use of an opt-in mobile app that is powered by ByteLight.Geolocation Technology - LED

This solution is based on a combination of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Visible Light Communication (VLC), as well as inertial device sensors. It is capable of supporting any smart device – such as smartphones and tablets, and perhaps wearables such as smartwatches, too – that is equipped with Bluetooth® Smart technology and/or a camera. This way, retailers will be able to reach customers within the broadest possible space, such as from the parking lot to any location within the store; anywhere that LED light will shine.

This gives retailers the opportunity to use their GE LED lighting for a continual ROI as they use the geolocation technology (as well as the required lighting of the store, itself) to formulate a strategic platform for the creation of tomorrow’s entirely connected retail shop. This could potentially help to enhance the size of in-store traffic while improving the overall shopping experience for consumers.

Mobile devices can be used more easily on Canadian flights

| June 2, 2014

The country is relaxing the regulations regarding the use of smartphones and tablets while in the air.

It won’t be long before travelers in Canada will be able to use their electronic and mobile devices at any time they want during a flight, including everything from smartphones to tablets and laptops.

That said, they will still be restricted from using WiFi and making cellular phone calls.

Lisa Raitt, the Minister of Transportation in Canada recently made the announcement that travelers will be able to use their mobile devices and other forms of electronic technology such as portable games, cameras, laptops, e-readers, tablets, and even smartphones, from the time that the flight takes off to its touchdown. That said, it will be possible only as long as the transmission capabilities of the gadget have been disabled.

The rules for mobile devices during flights have been an issue of great debate over the last few months.

Mobile Devices - Canadian FlightsA few months ago, federal officials in Canada began working with the airline industry and its various carriers in order to help to make this change. Air Canada, the largest airline in the country has already announced that it is ready to implement the change to the regulations “very shortly” and that it could start to fly under these less restrictive regulations within the next few days.

Raitt explained that this decision is “good news for air passengers and it’s good news for the Canadian aviation industry,” as she spoke to the media at Ottawa International Airport in the country’s capital. She added that she understands some of the challenges faced by travelers, today, who are required to shut off devices, saying that “as a mom of a 12- and a 9-year-old, I’m pretty happy that we don’t have to go through the whole, I would say, drama of turning off your Nintendo DS in the middle of a really important game.”

This recent change in the rules for the use of mobile devices aligns the regulations in Canada with those that are currently in place in the United States as well as in the European Union, which had each announced their own intentions for this gadget use in 2013.