Chrome for Android Getting Beacon Support

The Chrome mobile browser is the latest addition to the Internet of Things. Google announced yesterday that the Chrome for Android volition soon be able to tap into beacons for location-based alerts and URLs.

Chrome Chrome for iOS has really had this ability since July, merely using it requires opening the iPhone'due south Today widget past swiping down from the acme of the abode screen. Native support for Android devices will hateful location alerts will appear every bit more prominent notifications. (Google says they will exist non-vibrating for minimal intrusiveness).

The ability to recognize physical beacons, which rely on Bluetooth applied science or Apple's iBeacon protocol, offers some tantalizing possibilities. Public transit agencies can give passengers waiting at stops an estimate of when their train or autobus will arrive, eliminating the need to install expensive digital displays.

Instead of fumbling with coins and parking meters, motorists could receive a bulletin when they exit their parking spot asking them to pay via phone. Click the prototype to encounter it in action.

Retailers are too eager to use beacons to serve relevant ads to shoppers. Concluding summer, Target introduced beacons to about 50 of its stores, which serve up relevant coupons to shoppers as they scan items Target thinks they might want.

Apple's competing iBeacon platform, meanwhile, is used past companies similar Shopkick, which builds custom shopping apps for major retailers like Macy's, which has more 4,000 beacons throughout its stores.

Physical beacon support volition crave users to update to Chrome 49, which Google says volition be "rolling out more than widely shortly."

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.