iBeacon are part of iOS 7, think RFID like devices.

…iBeacons is to help you find things — or, rather, to help your iOS device to find itself. iBeacons is the general name for a set of additions to the CoreLocation framework that developers can use when designing apps: it isn’t a new piece of hardware, nor a new app, but a capability. Apps can use iBeacons to answer the question “Where am I?” not in terms of a location on a map, like GPS does, but in terms of where the device is relative to another device. Specifically, where it is relative - Source: Tidbits.com

 iBeacons seem nebulous until you read the following…

One company that is hard at work making their own brand of iBeacon sensor is estimote. From their web site:

Simply stick our tiny sensors in any physical place — such as your retail store — and your app users will benefit from personalized micro-location based notifications and actions when they walk in to your venue or interact with your products. - loopinsight.com

“Apple iOS 7 surprises as first with new multipath TCP connections”

Network World - Apple’s iOS 7 is the first large-scale use of a newly-minted Internet protocol, called multipath TCP. It lets computers send and receive data across different network paths and interfaces at the same time, such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi and 3G  

Source: Network World

Before you ask why you’d even need that:

Researchers have been working for years on creating “disruption tolerant” networks, which can automatically work around failures, sometimes multiple failures, and adapt to changing network conditions

Source: Network World

Its worth reading the whole article, multipath TCP should be transparent to the end user and boon to developers and user experience without having to lift a finger.

Quartz is even more pumped about it than NetworkWorld with an article titled Apple’s iOS 7 includes a surprise: a ticket to the next generation of the internet.

iOS 7 audio problems: musicians advised not to upgrade yet “iOS 7 audio is not ready,” says Audiobus developer

Thanks to the long-awaited arrival of Inter App Audio, many of us had been hoping for better integration between music making apps in iOS 7, but with the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system now rolling out, the focus has switched to problems that it’s having with audio performance.

Source: MusicRadar.com

While not good, this could be more serious if its not addressed before the release of iOS 7 for the iPad. The iPhone doesn’t support USB Dock adapter with CoreMidi, which means that the iPhone and iPod Touch require special interfaces.

Pair-Lock Your iOS 7 Device with Apple’s Configurator

As it turns out, the same mechanism that provides your iOS 7 device with a potential back door can also be used to help secure your device should it ever fall into the wrong hands. This article is a brief how-to on using Apple’s Configurator utility to lock your device down so that no other devices can pair with it, even if you leave your device unlocked, or are coerced into unlocking it yourself with a passcode or a fingerprint. By pair-locking your device, you’re effectively disabling every logical forensics tool on the market by preventing it from talking to your iOS device, at least without first being able to undo this lock with pairing records from your desktop machine. This is a great technique for protecting your device from nosy coworkers, or cops in some states that have started grabbing your call history at traffic stops. 

Source: zdziarski.com

Bluetooh, Bluetooth and bluetooth

iOS 7 has a lot more expansive Bluetooth support, both Mavericks and iOS are getting a healthy dose of bluetooth support.

In a post at the official Bluetooth blog, chief marketing officer Suke Jawanda outlines some of these changes. First, he confirms that Bluetooth Smart is a big part of AirDrop, an iOS 7 feature that lets nearby users quickly exchange photos and documents. With the new operating systems, Bluetooth hardware will also gain access to Apple Notification Center Services (ANCS), making the task of pushing notifications to smartwatches and other wearables far more seamless for developers. Rather than having to come up with clever workarounds — as Pebble had to do with iOS 6 — the expanded support ideally means users shouldn’t have to worry about fussing with settings to get things functioning properly. 

Source: TheVerge.com

Apple showed off its very strong developer commitment by adding more to the core Bluetooth APIs. It was amazing to see the native support of more GATT profiles (including HID and ANS), the growing ecosystem of devices and verticals Apple is looking at, and the sheer market potential Apple sees in the Bluetooth appcessory space.

One of the coolest things I saw was the addition of Bluetooth support to the Application State Preservation and Restoration APIs. Let’s say you have a device utilizing an app on your phone or tablet. The user interacts with the app to control the device, but then moves to another task. Soon, there are several apps open, the system looks to reclaim some resources, and unloads your app from memory. By implementing the State Preservation and Restoration APIs for Bluetooth, iOS7 will automatically remember the state the app was in when the system shut the app down. iOS7 then allows that state to be loaded back into memory (along with the app) when your device needs the app again. To me, this is the epitome of intelligent management. It allows developers to create seamless experiences for consumer interaction with appcessories without worrying about the state management plumbing code.

Source: Bluetooth.com

I can’t say I’m as versed with bluetooth tech as I should be (GATT profiles are new to me) but the biggest rumor is iOS 7 mouse support.