Light and Sound Take a Bite Out of NFC

December 8, 2013 10:02 PM

bluetooth icon communication set with computer notebook and phone

Adrian NiederhÃ¤user/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Many payments companies are testing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, which has a wider range, and is considered an alternative to, Near Field Communication for executing mobile payments. BLE-based technologies are also being developed for customers to check into stores and for merchants to deliver marketing and loyalty programs. Here are few companies giving BLE and other NFC alternatives a try. (Image: Thinkstock)

Taxi's drive past Macy's Inc. flagship store in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2013. Terry Lundgren, president and chief executive officer of Macy's Inc., said 15,000 shoppers waited to enter its Herald Square store in New York at 8 p.m. last night, up from 11,000 at midnight a year earlier. Photographer: Peter Foley/Bloomberg

Peter Foley/Bloomberg

Shopkick's Sweet Tooth

The mobile rewards company is using BLE to power its ShopBeacon product, which has been deployed at Macy's locations in New York and San Francisco. (Image: Bloomberg News)

PayPal Checks In

PayPal recently introduced PayPal Beacon, a plug-in device for merchants that detects when shoppers running PayPal's mobile app enter a store. (Image: PayPal)

A Capital Idea

Capital One recently announced its new mobile point-of-sale solution for small businesses, Spark Pay, which enables business owners to create and distribute special offers through a variety of in-store and near-store marketing campaigns including SMS messages, mobile banners, social media and Bluetooth Beacons. (Image: Spark Pay)

Clinkle's Secret Sauce?

Clinkle, a payments startup whose investors include PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel that's generating a lot of buzz in Silicon Valley, is being mysterious about its technology though reports say it will be powered by high-frequency sound emitted by smartphone speakers. (Image: Clinkle)

An Apple Inc. logo sits on display outside the company's store at the Odysseum shopping center in Montpellier, France, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013. The euro area's nascent economic recovery lost momentum in the third quarter as growth in Germany slowed and France's economy unexpectedly contracted. Photographer: Balint Porneczi/Bloomberg

Balint Porneczi/Bloomberg

Apple Backs BLE

Developers who got an early look at Apple's new iOS7 operating system say it supports BLE, which has a range of up to 50 meters. Last week ,Apple announced began using its iBeacon technology at its retail stores in the U.S. (Image: Bloomberg News)

Taking the Shuttle

Adyen's Shuttle connects to smartphones and tablets wirelessly through a Bluetooth connection. The device is available in 17 countries within the European Union. (Image: Adyen)

technology concept

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Recognize Them?

Microsoft's Zero-Effort Payments (ZEP) system uses BLE technology instead of NFC. It also uses facial recognition software from its Kinect gaming system. (Image: Thinkstock)

Audio equalizer

-M-I-S-H-A-/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Alipay's Noise Play

Alipay, which uses audio signals to power person to person payments, is also using ultrasonic noise to enable payments in the Beijing subway system. (Image: Thinkstock)

A Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy S4 smartphone is held for a photograph during the Galaxy S4's release in Times Square in New York, U.S., on Thursday, March 14, 2013. Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled the Galaxy S4 with a bigger screen and software that tracks eye movements as the world's biggest smartphone seller takes its battle with Apple Inc. to the iPhone maker's home market. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Samsung's Whole New Galaxy

Technology embedded into the proximity sensor of the Galaxy S4 will allow developers to generate one-dimensional bar codes by sending pulses of light from the phone into a sensor in POS scanners. (Image: Bloomberg News)

Lost and Found

Coin, a dynamic card provider, is including BLE in its new developer kit, while Bluenio, a U.K.-based security technology company, has been using Bluetooth Low Energy technology to alert users about lost items for about seven years. (Image: Coin)