http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/26/researchers-make-a-working-tractor-beam/ It's all about baby steps.
Makes sense... Still, it faces the persistent and as yet insurmountable power problem. Once we figure that out, well... powerful engines to propel space craft, deflector shields to protect them, and phaser banks to attack when needed will start to move into the realm of possibility. It is curious, whether or not that ever discouraging power problem will be overcome in the future.
This could also lead to a kind of artificial gravity if they can get the attraction field to work on the macro level, and anti-gravity lifts if they manage to reverse it as a repulsor beam. Exciting things afoot!