The Next Big Thing for Apps is Proximity Based Technology

Proximity based technology improves upon a concept that we’re already taking and running with—that is, the idea that mobile devices should be universally compatible and connect us to each other on a local and geo-tracking level. Mobile units were always about making computers more convenient to our lifestyle—fast-paced, leisurely and preferably without hours of keyboard strokes or mouse clicks. Laptop computers, tablets and smartphones were able to make not just the world accessible, but to make our own city of residence come to us at a much more intimate level than we ever knew before.

Suddenly, our favorite businesses communicated with us on a day to day basis. Dating and going out for special events was made so much more simple and fun. And communicating online almost became more practical than the old standby phone call.

Now, proximity based technology is the next milestone in terms of transforming the mobile Internet into a vast always connected supercomputer. What we already know sounds promising enough—namely that P2Pkit technology is going to enable apps we already know and love to create into more context-aware interactions.

For example, proximity technology is no longer limited to a few phones. It works at scale and is constantly aware when someone is nearby and even when they leave. Thanks to peer-to-peer technologies, it works even where Internet WI-FI or cell phone 3G / 4G isn’t available.

This new technology would also allow apps to connect with each other regardless of platform or OS, no market barriers that were the standard of the 1990s and 2000s. Perhaps most intriguing is that this new wave of connectivity doesn’t require having the app in the foreground to discover those nearby,but can work even when the phone is shoved back into a person’s pocket and in standby mode.

What This Will Do to Apps

The innovation is how immediate and targeted app developers could make their products now, whereas before companies would have to spend so much time and money just hunting down customers in the first place. Customers that interact with the company’s app would already communicate with the company’s computers and let them know their physical location. Immediately, special offers and promotions could be auto-delivered to the consumer based only on proximity tracking.

Simply put, wireless networks of yesterday do not have the accuracy level needed to take total advantage of peer to peer communication. It’s very broad and not always precise, particularly when people are in the same building.

This new proximity technology works via a combination of Bluetooth Low Energy wireless as well as Wi-Fi Internet. This level of more precise Peer to peer tracking can figure out a device’s EXACT location and then notify apps when another device approaches or leaves a location.

The most immediate change will be auto-delivery messages sent to customers who, after an opt-in, receive coupons and specials from companies based only on their arrival in the selected location.

Over the long-term, more interaction with the technology will come about and improve, allowing people to instantly find each other based on mutual interests, whether that’s in the job market, dating, business or networking. This is an exciting time to be alive and we look forward to what opportunities tomorrow’s Internet is going to open up to us!