I was walking in a mall this past weekend when my phone started vibrating. I
checked out my SMS inbox to find a message from "EB WGPortal" with a .sis
(a Nokia native application attached to it. I retraced my steps and found out
that I had just walked past an EB Games store, which I strongly suspected was
the sender. So I stood in line for… well, a while, as you can imagine, and
finally showed my phone to the attendant and asked him:
"Can you explain this?"
He was dumbfounded, turned to his colleague who knew about it.
"Yes, we have an upload pad in the store. You can run the application
attached to the message and it will install on your phone".
"Okay, but what is it?"
"Previews for games, screen savers, etc…"
"How do I know the application is safe to install on my phone?"
"Er…"
I am wondering if Bluetooth marketing is going to work.
First of all, I wonder if the fact that they sent me a .sis is a
coincidence or if they were able to determine that I owned a Nokia (is this even
possible via Bluetooth?). Will people willfully install applications sent
by random stores without knowing exactly what they are? Text messages, sure, that’s harmless and it doesn’t add to your bill, but
applications… now that is bold.
Anyway, I have been waiting for such a moment for a while, it looks like it’s
finally happening.
Have you had similar experiences?
#1 by Sam Pullara on December 19, 2005 - 9:24 am
This also happens at the Metreon in San Francisco. They have some sort of movie application they try and get you to install… If these were popular at all there would be instant phishing scams.
#2 by Sam Pullara on December 19, 2005 - 9:25 am
This also happens at the Metreon in San Francisco. They have some sort of movie application they try and get you to install… If these were popular at all there would be instant phishing scams.
#3 by Adam Phillabaum on December 19, 2005 - 9:31 am
We should use this technology for something useful. When you walk into a movie theater, you should get an SMS message reminding you to turn your phone to vibrate/off.
#4 by Anonymous on December 19, 2005 - 11:55 pm
this is not marketing. this is spamming.
#5 by Spassmonkey on December 20, 2005 - 1:29 am
I’ve been hit before by a bluetooth virus (cabir) which has made me very wary of installing .sis sent from untrusted sources. When I received this I repeatedly received ‘bluetooth message received’ messages with such rapid redelivery, I was unable to do anything on my handset short of accepting the file then deleting it, rather than install. I had just a few secs in between bluetooth pushes to disable bluetooth until I was far away from the office block where I was hit. I can only assume that lots of people in that office block were probably affected.
If however, the idea was that you talk to someone in the EB store and they offer to install something on your phone, so you can preview new items, then it’s not such a bad idea. Perhaps you were hit by accident whilst they tried to upload to someone in-store.
#6 by Frank Bolander on December 20, 2005 - 9:09 am
They’re going to have to go to a “signed .sis” type of model.
What a waste of technology.
#7 by Chris Winters on December 20, 2005 - 4:48 pm
Do most people have bluetooth activated all the time? What’s the point?
#8 by Anonymous on December 27, 2005 - 1:40 pm
Isn’t that a case for J2ME or whatever they call it these days?
#9 by Guillaume Compagnon on December 29, 2005 - 7:42 am
As I have coded some lines in JSR82 (java api for bluetooth in J2ME), the only data you can get(“sniff”) from a BT enabled mobile are its name (configured by the user inside the configuration) and its address (an sort of IP address …)
by default, the bluetooth name for Nokia is its model number… so it is possible to recognize a Nokia phone if the user have not change its name.
If ypu look forward … look at my code “BlueDump” here:
http://www.ericsson.com/mobilityworld/sub/articles/other_articles/nl04aug02
#10 by Jerry on January 2, 2006 - 7:20 am
Kinda agree with December, it’s spamming. Haven’t met any of this yet in my country, Malaysia, but it would be rather anoying. As tech goes more advance, businesses follows too :/
#11 by Bill Kress on January 3, 2006 - 11:19 am
Feels almost like assault to me.
If someone walked up to you and started stuffing brownies from an unknown source into your mouth so often that you couldn’t get a word out, it would certainly be assault.
You would also think this would violate some provision of one of these new stupid computer acts congress is so anxious to pass these days.
An aside:
The situation with technical laws in America is starting to feel like a software project with no design, one where they keep lumping on new requirements but every time you add any new business rules you create logical conflicts with multiple other business rules & requirements.
The difference is that the government can selectively enforce conflicting rules so the conflicts aren’t as obvious, in code you can’t really do that.
#12 by Mike Jasnowski on January 16, 2006 - 11:39 am
Maybe the same would work for bluetooth
http://www.rpi-polymath.com/ducttape/RFIDWallet.php
#13 by Arthog on April 28, 2006 - 6:30 am
I think that if Bluetooth is properly managed as a marketing tool then it could be a really convenient and free way to get digital content.
imho the key thing is awareness in the general public and making sure that only wanted content is downloaded. The best way to do this is for people to keep BT turned off unless they are specifically using it.
#14 by Feras on May 6, 2006 - 8:08 am
I think Bluetooht marketing is illegal and should have some information such as boards before entering a bluetooth broadcasting range.
#15 by Etienne on July 20, 2006 - 4:45 am
For viruses, simply NEVER install an untrusted application on your device. There are many warnings before you actually have the application installed, either Symbian or Java application. Avoid giving money away to anti-virus companies, just use your phone wisely, like your PC !
#16 by nik simms on August 22, 2006 - 5:07 am
Bluetooth Advertising using Bluetooth Marketing hardware is just not like Television Ads, SMS marketing, Billboards and poster which cannot be switched off or refused. It is a total opt in situation. If not abused it can become the new marketing phenomena.
http://www.bluetooth-advertising.co.uk
#17 by toerholm on September 1, 2006 - 4:38 am
My company Blip Systems provides a complete Bluetooth Marketing platform.
Our solution BlipZones has a unique opt-in feature. This feature allows users to sign up via the mobiles for an advertisement services, via a very simple procedure.
Our system is able to identify any Bluetooth phone on the fly, also if the freindly name is changed and we have a central phone capability database, so we are able to send the right version of e.g. a .jar file.
We urge our costumers always to combine Bluetooth marketing with visual marketing. A typical setup is a poster and an access point with reduced range, e.g. a meter. “Turn on Bluetooth and place your phone close to the poster”
Bluetooth marketing is not about setting up a hiden access point to spam nearby mobiles, its about sending relevant content to customers there has accepted the service.
#18 by Etienne on September 15, 2006 - 12:55 am
Big campaign in Belgium right now ! The JCDecaux panels are sending out an MP3 of Christina Aguilera for Mobistar (Orange Group).
According to the press release the technology is provided by Alterwave.
http://bluetoothmarketing.wordpress.com/
http://www4.mobistar.be/en/corporate/press/press_releases/20060912.html
#19 by Mike Callachan on September 15, 2006 - 9:42 am
We operate a Bluetooth Marketing system, and we feel that it all comes down to the content. It is a total opt in situation. If not abused it can become the new marketing phenomena – think Minority Report!
Check out our products: http://ww.bloozy.co.uk
#20 by kofi amamoo on October 28, 2006 - 4:27 am
i had this idea of bluetooth marketing only to realise it is something that already exists around the world. there is a possibility if the people who the messages are sent to are given something good in return. marketing is like culture, it is very dynamic therefore more research meeds to be done to make this work.
#21 by Greg Lorriman on October 31, 2006 - 3:35 pm
I’ve got a nokia, and so has my brother. We ended up turning the blue-tooth off not because of spurious uninvited nonsense, but because BT seems to severely affect marginal wireless connections (we had an aggreement with a not-so-near neighbour).
Took a long time to discover the source of our troubles.
#22 by C on December 4, 2006 - 2:26 pm
i answer to an earlier question,,, i have bluetooth always turned on because my handsfree kit in my car is bluetooth and i don’t want to have to turn it on and connect everytime i get into my car.
#23 by Raymond Stone on January 4, 2007 - 7:22 am
I work for ZipZone Media, and we’re selling a complete Bluetooth marketing system in the US. Our field tests in very busy areas of New York City have shown that most people do not have their bluetooth on discoverable mode.
The only effective way to implement this campaign is to provide prominent signage to alert people to make their BT discoverable AND provide them with a good reason to do so, ie: provide compelling content. We take care of the first part by providing prominent backlit signs that can be placed in key locations onsite – it’s up to the merchants to decide what content is appropriate for their customers. Provide something useful, like a coupon, free mp3, video or game, and people will gladly accept your message.
Check us out at http://www.zipzonemedia.com
#24 by jose luis on January 30, 2007 - 7:29 am
Desearia distribuir o contactar con algun distribuidor español con la mayor brevedad posible.
#25 by John on February 19, 2007 - 10:24 pm
Well fair enough, i’ve developed a bluetooth marketing solution and it’s doing very well here in my country Ghana.
For most of you wondering where Ghana is, it’s in Africa – West
#26 by Richard T Thorpe on February 25, 2007 - 2:26 pm
I like it that everyone is now talking about Bluetooth marketing. It’s getting bigger and bigger everyday now. I am one of the director’s for blu future UK and we have seen a massive increase in interest in our products in the last 3 months.
Regarding getting people to turn on their Bluetooth, we always advice our clients to have visual aids to make people aware that it is a Bluetooth zone. One of the best way’s to work with Bluetooth, is having Bluetooth information points. Our sister company blu directory is offering them for free, the company launched the new product just over 2 weeks ago now and it’s gone massive.
I look forward to the future
#27 by Richard T Thorpe on February 25, 2007 - 2:29 pm
If you would like to see our products, please have a look at:
http://www.blufuture.co.uk/corporate-products.html
or everything else at:
http://www.blufuture.co.uk
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#29 by Nigel Foster on November 9, 2007 - 12:35 am
Some of the negative press about bluetooth marketing is ridiculous. Its only like someone habding you a leaflet in the street, if you don’t like it then say no thanks. If you ignore it, then its the same as a no thanks.
I used it for my restaurant via a Nexgen Bluetooth Marketing (www.nextgenbluetoothmarketing.co.uk) and got great results on a 20% off promotion from passing trade.