This year's SXSW festival in Austin, Tex., will feature more than a thousand iBeacon transmitters onsite, allowing attendees to receive timely, location-specific messages and the ability to connect with others.

iBeacons debuted at SXSW 2014 in a limited fashion, but for this year's event the festival is ramping up their use. Relying on Bluetooth Low Energy, the Gimbal-built iBeacons will provide attendees with a view of others in the vicinity, making it easier for people to make connections.

The new "Around Me" feature will also allow users to introduce themselves to others with a quick message through the official SXSW Go app. The iBeacon support is cross-platform, offering compatibility with Apple's iPhone 4s or newer, recent iPads, and the Android-powered Nexus 5 and 6 and Samsung Galaxy S4 and S5.

The opt-in Around Me feature will be powered by more than 1,000 iBeacon transmitters located around the event, according to The Next Web. Users will also receive location-based messages, and alerts about who may have arrived recently.

iBeacons use Bluetooth Low Energy technology to communicate with iPhones in close proximity, allowing for location-based features. For example, Apple uses iBeacons at its own retail stores to keep users up to date on in-store happenings, offer easy access to product reviews, and even allowing users to view their iPhone upgrade eligibility or pick up their online order.