Oct 07, 2013Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, also known as Bluetooth Smart, recently received a spurt of attention due to the release of Apple's new iOS 7 operating system, thanks to the addition of the iBeacon functionality that the company has created. With iBeacon, an iPhone or iPad can receive location-based data from a type of BLE transmitter known as a beacon, without requiring consumers to opt in (assuming the application associated with that beacon does necessitate an opt-in process). These beacons function as active RFID tags, with a read range between 10 and 50 meters (33 to 164 feet), and can be deployed around a space—such as a store front or a park—to automatically trigger some sort of action on the phone or tablet.
In late September, Major League Baseball tested a solution employing Apple's iBeacon technology at Citi Field, the New York Mets' home stadium. According to a news article posted on Mashable, MLB had been working closely with Apple on the project since February, and the Citi Field demonstration was launched to show how a team would be able to execute the technology at its ballpark. To participate in the demo, iPhone users needed to download Major League Baseball's free At the Ballpark app, assuming they hadn't done so already. Upon coming within range of a BLE beacon, the phone received that beacon's ID and forwarded it to a server, and the app displayed the bar code of the user's ticket, along with a map leading to the proper seat. The system provided other data as well, which included playing a video describing the stadium's history when the phone came within range of a beacon installed near the Mets' Big Apple statue, located just outside the ballpark. Marc Abramson, MLB's iOS developer, told Mashable that his organization plans to customize the At the Ballpark app at each of its stadiums nationwide—most likely for a 2014 launch—though he did not indicate which other teams will receive it, or when this might occur.
Apple released iOS 7 on Sept. 18. Previous versions of the iPhone using iOS 6, as well as some Android devices, could already communicate with BLE beacons and tags. However, iBeacon enables an Apple phone or tablet to receive transmissions from a BLE device and respond without much effort on the part of the device owner—namely, the consumer. In the past, for example, a phone or tablet responded to a BLE beacon or tag only if the app related to that beacon or tag was open, or if the phone or tablet was paired with that beacon. With iOS 7, however, an iPhone need only be powered on in order to accept a BLE beacon's signal, and to forward that beacon's ID to a server, along with that of the handset, via its mobile connection. This enables software on that server to determine the iPhone's location and provide a related action, such as displaying advertising data pertinent to that particular area, or simply store location data related to that handset.
During the past year, a number of BLE tags and beacons have appeared on the market, including Droptag, a wireless sensor that can be placed in a parcel prior to shipment and be interrogated via a smartphone, in order to ascertain if the contents suffered any impacts (see Droptag Knows When a Package Has Been Handled With Care). And a Finnish precast-concrete manufacturer uses 9Solutions' BLE technology to help make its operations more efficient (see Lipa Betoni Uses Bluetooth-Based RTLS To Manage Production). Meanwhile, other BLE tags recently launched on the market are focused on helping people locate personal items, and include Tile and Stick-N-Find (see Who Says RFID Tags Pose a Privacy Risk or Are Too Costly?) and GearID's GearTag (see RFID News Roundup: GearID Readies Bluetooth- and NFC-enabled GearTag for Tracking Personal Items, Pets and More).
What's more, multiple vendors have begun offering BLE beacons and applications specifically to take advantage of Apple's iBeacon functionality—and, in some cases, pilots are currently underway testing the technology. These solutions are using the BLE technology in a variety of ways, from enabling consumers to make payments to simply tracking the location of phones, for the purpose of performing business analytics or sending advertising according to location. Some apps require that a phone's user press a prompt to opt-in before the BLE functionality will operate, while others take advantage of the new iOS7 capability to enable a phone to respond without the user opting in.
Depending on the specific beacon system and app, users might need to opt in each time their phone receives a transmission from a beacon. In other cases, they might not—and they may not even need to download that specific app if it is attached to another application, such as one for a specific store that an individual may download in order to receive promotional and coupon offers.
Last month, PayPal announced PayPal Beacon, which would allow people to make purchases via their mobile phones without removing them from a pocket or purse. The solution utilizes a BLE transmitting device, priced at $99 or less, that would plug into an outlet. The PayPal Beacon device is expected to be made available for merchants to purchase by early 2014, says a PayPal spokesperson. At that time, PayPal Beacon will be compatible with PayPal Here, the company's mobile card reader and application, as well as the basic PayPal payment app.
When an individual with the PayPal payment app—available for download at the Google Play and iTunes Web sites—enters a store or other business using the Beacon devices, he or she receives a BLE transmission. The phone will then vibrate or emit a tone indicating that it has detected a beacon's transmission. The user would need to opt in (even if the phone runs on the iOS7 operating system) to trigger the phone to respond to beacon transmissions. Once ready to make a purchase, the user can then complete the transaction via the PayPal payment app, by placing the phone near a beacon unit at the store's sales counter.
PayPal predicts that its beacon devices can be used to solve a host of problems, and is appealing to app developers to generate ideas. The company is inviting developers to use PayPal's in-store payments application programming interface (API) to create programs able to accept payments via the PayPal phone app. The APIs can be accessed via PayPal's standard developer kit. Developers are now submitting their ideas for a test version of the PayPal Beacon device. According to the company, the developers will be able to create compelling experiences for customers entering a store, such as an interactive map indicating where sale items are located, or self-checkout capability at a grocery store. "We've already received several ideas from developers, and we are currently evaluating them," the spokesperson states. "We're eager to continue seeing what the developer community can come up with."
PayPal Beacon will work with all Bluetooth Smart Energy phones, which include Android phones and iPhones (model 4S or later). The company does not yet have any pilots or installations in place, but is currently in discussions with several merchants regarding the technology.
Technology start-up Estimote, which maintains offices in Poland and the United States, also offers a BLE-based solution for use in the retail market. The company's Beacon, which comes with an accelerometer and a temperature sensor, is powered by a non-rechargeable lithium battery that the company says should last for up to two years. "Our tiny and wireless sensors-beacons trigger contextual actions whenever people and their smartphones are in the range," says Aleksandra Puchta, Estimote's community evangelist and PR manager. "We've built a digital platform delivering real-world context to consumers' phones." That platform, she explains, enables the monitoring of Estimote Beacons, including battery levels, the management of any sensor data and the creation of analytics based on the movements and locations of BLE-enabled phones. Estimote's solution currently works only with iPhones and iPads, Puchta notes, but the firm plans to offer standard development kits for BLE-enabled Android phones and tablets within a few weeks.
According to Puchta, the company offers a wide set of applications, including proximity marketing (sending promotional material relevant to a phone user's location within a store or other site), measuring customer traffic and movements within a business, and providing business analytics based on those locations, as well as payment solutions. "Generally, based on our open API, we deliver context-based data," she explains. That means if an individual walks past a coffee shop, for example, his or her phone may vibrate and a coupon for a beverage could be displayed on its screen. Or, in the case of analytics, if a large number of phones are determined to congregate in one area of the store and not another, management could rearrange displays accordingly. Estimote is currently accepting pre-orders for its developers' preview kit. The first batch of orders has already been shipped, with current preorders expected to be delivered by mid-October.
Another new technology company, Colorado-based Roximity, says it is undertaking technology pilots with its own BLE beacons, which it leases to its customers for a fee of approximately $10 per month apiece. Roximity's iBeacon, which measures 2 inches in length and width and about 3/4 inch in thickness, can be powered by a battery or a wall outlet. The technology works with Apple or Android-based phones and tablets, says Danny Newman, Roximity's CEO.
Newman says his company's beacon solution is being tested at several sports stadiums that have asked not to be named. Although he did not provide the specifics of those pilots, he adds that the technology can be used to examine traffic patterns in such places as stores, parks or stadiums, and to determine the length of a queue of customers waiting to enter a site or to be served. Individuals using the app could also employ the solution for indoor navigation, to determine their location within a building, as well as where they need to go in order to reach their destination.
The technology requires that a user has already downloaded and installed the Roximity iBeacon app onto his or her phone or tablet. The user need not opt in (that is, that person does not have to open a BLE-based app and press a prompt to participate) for the phone to begin communicating location data to the Roximity software. For example, Newman says, to receive periodic coupons or price-reduction offers on the phone, a user could simply download and run a store's app with the Roximity app linked to it. The Roximity app would then provide location data to the store's app, so that it would begin providing the user with location-based coupons, or collect location data for the store's analytics purposes, without requiring the user to opt in.
Apple did not respond to a request for comments.
