While Apple (AAPL 1.27%) hasn't directly touted its new iBeacon technology much, investors have picked up on it thanks to its retail possibilities. Apple has now officially rolled out iBeacons at its 254 retail stores in the United States, offering customers specialized experiences based on micro-location data. iBeacon uses Bluetooth, which is already built into modern smartphones. That means that half of the infrastructure piece of the puzzle is already complete. iBeacon is part of iOS 7, but the good news for Apple is that adoption of this latest version of iOS is already up to 74%.
iBeacon alone might never be a headline-selling feature for iDevices, but it certainly adds a complementary service. That's especially true if Apple can get more third-party retailers to adopt the technology. Some retailers have already begun to roll out support, and more are sure to follow.
In this segment of Tech Teardown, Erin Kennedy discusses Apple's iBeacon with Evan Niu, CFA, our tech and telecom bureau chief.
