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Will Proximity Beacons Breed Contempt From Saturated Users?

Proximity beacon technology, such as that produced by Qualcomm Inc., is ready for prime time.

The big question is whether consumers are ready for it.

Proximity beacons mounted on walls or under counters send out silent, low-energy radio signals 22 times a second.

“Think of them as little lighthouses,” said Ryan Gustafson of the San Diego Padres, which recently installed dozens of the little electronic devices at Petco Park.

The beacons collect information about which smartphones are in range, and feed the data to a computer server. Equipped with such information, the server kicks out a message to nearby smartphones — provided the phones’ owners have opted into the system.

The messages may offer consumers information or a discount on merchandise. Businesses are still dreaming up applications for proximity beacons. Those who work with the technology every day, however, warn that it’s possible to get too much of a good thing.

During a recent discussion of proximity beacons at downtown’s EvoNexus incubator, speakers said it might take a while for people to warm up to messages materializing on their smartphones.

“We counsel people to tone it down, get people used to it,” said Mark Modzelewski of beacon-maker Estimote Inc., which splits its business between New York and Krakow, Poland.

Marketers will want to push all sorts of messages at potential customers.

“Do you really want to throw all that at people?” Modzelewski asked.

After all, the customer is king. He has the ability to opt out.

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) seems to have taken such advice to heart. It has installed Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) beacons at its stores, but its approach seems low-key. At its University Towne Center store recently, the system was sending relatively few messages. People got a simple hello as they walked through the door.

Gustafson said the Padres are “taking it slow” with the technology, which he predicted will become an everyday phenomenon.

“In 10 years, every place you go will be covered with beacons,” he said.

• • •

Food Fight?: A San Diego company has started a website that it bills as “LinkedIn for chefs.” Chef’s Roll features profiles of culinary industry professionals, which the business sells for $19 per month or $99 per year. The profiles include a section for food photography. “Presentation is Everything,” says the site, which seems to take the saying to heart with its uncluttered design.

Thomas Keslinke and Frans van der Lee are co-founders of the site, at chefsroll.com. It’s not their only venture. The two are partners in Impere, a Web development, branding and marketing agency in Hillcrest. Chef’s Roll was recently selected for the Launch-U technology incubator program run by La Jolla-based Accelerate-IT.

The bad news is that they have competition. “What they plan is very, very hard to do,” wrote Michael Atkinson, who suggested I check out his business, San Jose-based FohBoh Inc. FohBoh.com is a restaurant business website claiming more than 20,000 members from 130 countries. By the way, what seems like a nonsense word is an abbreviation for “front of the house, back of the house.”

We’ll let the market decide whether multiple hospitality-business websites can coexist.

• • •

Going Where the Customer Is: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., the Poway-based maker of the Predator unmanned aircraft, is opening an office in Beavercreek, Ohio, the Dayton Daily News reports. The town is near the U.S. Air Force Material Command and Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. They buy most of the Predators and Reapers that GA-ASI produce.

Send San Diego technology news to bradg@sdbj.com.

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