Wi-Fi technology is about to get an upgrade.

The nonprofit Wi-Fi Alliance on Tuesday announced it will now begin certifying products as Wi-Fi Aware. The new technology lets compatible devices more easily discover other gadgets, apps, and information nearby.

It would, for instance, let you easily find video game opponents, swap photos, and access local information — all without a cellular, Wi-Fi, or GPS connection. The technology works within the typical Wi-Fi range, and was designed to function well in crowded environments and indoors.

In a video (below), mobile users are shown at a museum receiving information about exhibits (as well as gift shop discounts) on their phones when they are within range of a particular piece. Travelers on the subway, meanwhile, get alerts about people nearby who could challenge them to a mobile game.

The Wi-Fi Alliance — whose members include Apple, Microsoft, Intel, and just about every other tech company — said the new technology "comes at a time when demand for highly personalized mobile experiences is growing rapidly." With Wi-Fi Aware, devices near each other "form clusters and exchange small messages about services available nearby, enabling immediate discovery."

Once you discover an interesting service, you can easily initiate a Wi-Fi connection for follow-up activities, like sharing photos or playing a multiplayer game. The new Wi-Fi Aware experiences will be "app-driven," and you'll be able to control privacy settings and opt-in to notifications. You will, for instance, be able to configure an app to show services on nearby devices, exchanging basic information without actually connecting to that device.

"The future of mobile applications is being driven by a more location-based, context-aware, and personalized approach," Rich Karpinski, principal analyst at 451 Research, said in a statement. "Wi-Fi Aware has the potential to put Wi-Fi at the forefront of those experiences, enabling social and local applications to come to life because users discover what's nearby in real time, accessing the experiences they want — when and where they want them."

The Wi-Fi Alliance said support for this new technology is "widespread" and it will eventually make its way to smartphones, tablets, and other consumer electronics. Silicon vendors have already begun to certify the core technology that will power next-gen devices, the organization said.

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