Gimbal, Urban Airship Effort Adds Context To iBeacon

Shopping and iBeacon technology go hand-in-hand. When a store — or any venue — places small Bluetooth beacons strategically, timely information is afoot. A new partnership between industry leader Gimbal and Urban Airship add context to your pushed messages, and it's going to be awesome.

If you're not familiar with iBeacon tech, don't feel bad; it's still pretty new. In a nutshell, small devices are placed around stores or other venues (most notably sports stadiums or arenas). Based on your location to the beacon, and your use of the corresponding app (typically the store or sports team/venue in question), you'll get some pushed notifications.

Those notifications can be just about anything. You might get info on a sale on pants while you're looking at pants, or info that a different beer line near a different gate at the stadium is shorter. The goal is to give you the right info at the right time. In Apple stores, you not only get product info using beacons, you also get to check out using their Easy Pay system.

Now, Gimbal is partnering with Urban Airship to provide a touch of context to those messages. You'll not only get messages — you'll get notifications that make sense. The app might know when you last visited, what you purchased, and offer up a suggestion that you might need a refill or replacement.

Between Gimbal's best-in-class technology and Urban Airship's strength in messaging architecture, you'll really get the notifications you need, when you need them, and not a moment sooner — or later.