From wifi.org on WifiAware ….

….

Retailers, venues, and municipalities, and many others are leveraging proximity to drive revenue and value.

….

Is it just me, or does that sound like “pester you even more via your phone, tablet, etc”?

It'll be no surprise, but my first reaction is to want to be SURE I can turn this utterly off, until/unless I explicitly want it on. Which won't be very often.

Shouldn't the headline be

“Wi-if alliance helps retailers advertise their services/goods to nearby punters in order to extract more cash from them”

And

Yank Garty, VP and GM of Wireless Communications Solutions at Intel, praised the Wi-Fi Aware certification program and its simplified approach to location awareness. Garty explained that such functionality was desirable because “Persistent awareness to surrounding services adds an exciting new dimension to the mobile user experience and enables applications to be more social, useful, and intuitive”.

(One of the finest example of marketing techno-babble drivel that I've heard for a long time) is roughly translated as “we've got a captive audience and we'll bombard you with irritating and distracting information until your ears bleed”.

This is already big business in the US - they've been busy co-opting “free” wi-fi in the shopping malls for quite a while now, pushing their advertising. They've even gone so far as getting people to voluntarily sign up for the privilege of getting texts/buzzed when their GPS says that they're close to a particular retail outlet.

Yet another reason I don't do smartphones, for any reason.

That sounds like a hackers dream!

Just feels like another way to advertise to us. Academic in the end as I pay for unlimited 4g data so my WIFI is only ever used for plex in the house. Missed out on me suckers.

GuidoLS
This is already big business in the US - they've been busy co-opting “free” wi-fi in the shopping malls for quite a while now, pushing their advertising. They've even gone so far as getting people to voluntarily sign up for the privilege of getting texts/buzzed when their GPS says that they're close to a particular retail outlet. Yet another reason I don't do smartphones, for any reason.

'fraid to say that this is also spreading over here - certain smartphone apps dial into your location, so if you're close to a store then - bwang - up pops a “we've got a sale on barbecues this weekend” notification. In fact, some apps I've had that seems to be their sole purpose - the “browse the stock” features are just an enticement to get you to install it.

I've been turning off Bluetooth habitually to prevent push-ads, now looks like I'm going to have to do the same with Wifi. Problem with that is that the “free” Wifi's that GuidoLS refers to are sometimes the only way to get a particular service. Case in point, was in a shopping mall recently and wanted to use the Qkr app to pay for a food bill (it's quicker than the usual “can I get the bill”, “in a minute” 10 minutes later still waiting). Folks in the party were on VirginMobile, EE and Three and none of us could get a data signal, so I had to sign up for the “free” wifi from “The Cloud” and now I'm getting spammed by BT.

PS GuidoLS, thanks for the heads up - I'm heading Stateside in late Fall, so I'll know to be on my guard. How long before the theme parks like Disney etc get into this push-ad'ing? I guess about as long as it takes them to install the infrastructure… :wallbash:

I can see some advantages of using it. Such as walking into a Mall/shopping center and being offered a map, or discount codes at certain stores, but I know it will end up being abused. The reality is that it will almost certainly end of simply firing annoying targeted adds at you, draining battery and making you less secure. I wouldn't be interested in using it at all.

Saracen
From wifi.org on WifiAware ….Is it just me, or does that sound like “pester you even more via your phone, tablet, etc”?

It'll be no surprise, but my first reaction is to want to be SURE I can turn this utterly off, until/unless I explicitly want it on. Which won't be very often.

I have to agree with you there. Admittedly some people will think this is great but I can't help but think that we are sleepwalking into this becoming the “norm” where we are bombarded from all sides with advertising that is trying to persuade us that we absolutely need these products. You see it in Sci-fi films and we are not far away from that already. Personally I don't want anything to do with it. This is no better than junk mail/cold calling in my opinion.

Isn't this a similar thing as Microsofts Wi-Fi Sense?