Mobile technology startups are developing a variety of technologies that aim to disrupt the way in which consumers experience many facets of their lives. During the past few years, numerous such companies have developed Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or related systems that will enable people to better manage their property, shop for goods at a store with the help of their smartphones, and share their music. Others are currently doing so.
Three companies that were listed as Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) finalists for the 2017 Imagine Blue Awards represent the latest generation of Internet of Things (IoT) and BLE innovators that, according to SIG, could impact consumers as well as companies serving those consumers. Those three companies are TrackR, which offers a BLE system, Beeem Technologies, which sells an Eddystone alternative to traditional BLE retail applications, and Tempow, which provides a straight Bluetooth system for pairing multiple devices for a smart device running Tempow’s software.
TrackR
California-based TrackR offers a BLE solution that, simply put, helps users find their stuff. The application creates a virtual floor plan of an individual’s home or other space with plug-in Bluetooth devices in each room, then enables the user to see the in-room location of anything tagged within that space.
TrackR was developed by engineering students at the University of California Santa Barbara, based on a bad experience they had at the beach when they could not find their car keys. The students had enjoyed a morning of surfing while their car was parked on the beach, but when they returned, they found the tide approaching and realized their keys were missing.
Those keys were, in fact, buried in the sand, says Christian Johan Smith, TrackR’s president and cofounder, and they were only able to find them—and save their vehicle from the incoming tide—with the help of a passerby who happened to have a metal detector. That event led them to create their own solution in 2010 that now serves consumers; the latest version, released this year, is known as TrackR atlas.
The team started with a coin-sized beacon device known as the Bravo, which could be attached to items such as keys, purses or gym bags, and a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone running the TrackR app. The phone would detect when an object was within range, and the app would employ that information to find missing articles.
Not only can the app help a user find an item based on when he or she comes within range of it, but the data is linked to the phone’s GPS signal. Thus, it can store the last known location of an object, such as a set of keys, based on when the phone last detected a signal (according to its longitude and latitude). The app comes with a crowd-based function that allows others in the user’s area to anonymously help find missing items, provided that they are also running the TrackR Bravo app and come within range of an object that someone has reported missing.
In some cases, however, that information was not granular enough, Smith says. So the team developed TrackR atlas, a system that uses wall outlet plug-in beacons to create a map of a space, such as a home or office, that can be stored in the app. The app then collects data related to the signals being received from that item, and determines its approximate location based on which beacons receive the transmission.
The system can also be integrated with Amazon‘s Alexa home-automation system, so that individuals can use voice prompting to locate what they seek. For instance, a user could speak a request to the Alexa device, such as “Alexa, ask TrackR to ring my phone,” and that request would be forwarded to the TrackR app, which would then prompt his or her phone to ring.
“We developed all the hardware in-house,” Smith reports, providing high levels of security and making it easy to use. He says he used his own grandmother to test how easily an average person could install and operate the technology on a typical smartphone.
TrackR has also released a product known as the TrackR pixel, a next-generation version of the bravo that features a longer read range and a ring of LED lights around its edge. According to the company, the LEDs can light up when interrogated, making it easier to locate visually.
The tags have up to one year’s worth of battery life, depending on how often they are used. Typically, there would be a need for a single atlas beacon per room within a home.
Beeem Technologies
Beeem Technologies offers a solution that helps retailers or other users connect with consumers in a way that breaks the BLE beacon mold by linking individuals to content without intrusive push notifications or mobile app downloads. Beeem, a company that operates in the United States and Hungary, says it has developed a new alternative to standard app-based BLE systems.
The solution is currently being prepared for piloting by several retailers. It employs Google Eddystone beacons to broadcast a URL from the beacon device to a user’s phone. By sending a URL rather than an ID, the system can then provide store customers with access to relevant information for their location—but only if they seek it.
Here’s how the system works: If a customer enters a store that is using the Beeem system (a sporting goods store, for instance), his or her phone will receive the Eddystone transmissions via Bluetooth, but the phone will not act upon those transmissions. If that individual is shopping for a specific item—say, tennis rackets at a sporting goods store—he or she can take out the phone and use Google Chrome, to look up rackets. The system will provide the shopper with the URL being transmitted by the Eddystone beacon within the vicinity (the tennis accessories department, for example). In that way, the user can view micro landing pages (like websites) about goods within the department in which he or she is located. This solution would only work with Google Chrome on iOS or Android devices.
This option enables brick-and-mortar stores to better compete with online retailers, says Ferenc Brachmann, Beeem Technologies’ CEO, since a shopper is likely to peruse content on the site made available to that individual, rather than going to competing sites in search of products while at the store.
The system is not intended only for use at stores, however. It has also been used at the Table Tennis European Championships (ETTU). Those attending ETTU’s events received live scores and players’ biographies and history.
The Beeem system, known simply as “the Beeem,” is intended to spare consumers from having to download apps, Brachmann says, which can be overwhelming and unpopular for many consumers. On the other hand, he adds, millions of people look for product information on their phones while shopping. “We have a vison for a wonderful future with all the benefits of mobile apps without the hassles,” he states. “That’s essentially Beeem.” Stores create a landing page using the Beeem, and then link that URL to the Eddystone beacon device in that portion of the store. “This enables you to be there for customers, only when they want it.” He adds that the Beeem requires no technical skills. “Everything is drag-and-drop, including linking the pages to the beacons.”
Tempow
Tempow’s Audio Profile (TAP) is designed to connect a smartphone or other device to multiple Bluetooth-enabled speakers or headphones. The solution utilizes traditional Bluetooth to enable users to create a surround-sound system with multiple speakers, or to share music or other audio content with up to five other individuals within range of the hosting device.
Tempow was launched in early 2016, says CEO and founder Vincent Nallatamby, to enable a better sound system via Bluetooth-enabled speakers. While the company initially designed a system using a hub device, it then opted to create software that would allow a smartphone or other Android-, iOS- or Microsoft Windows-based device to act as that hub.
In September of this year, Nallatamby says, the company plans to announce the first customer—a smartphone manufacturer—to provide the software with its new handset, which will enable users to begin utilizing the technology. Those who do so, he adds, will not require an app.