A high-level informational piece about Bluetooth beacons and their application in the real world.

1. Everything you always wanted to know
about Beacons*
*But were afraid to ask
Pen-Y-Fan,
recon Beacons, UK

2. Everything you always wanted to know about Beacons*
*But were afraid to ask
P2
What is a Beacon?
Think of a beacon as like a miniature
lighthouse.
A beacon is a small device that uses a type
of radio signal (Bluetooth Low Energy) to
repeatedly announce its presence to
anybody in the area that cares to listen.
They don't receive anything, they just send
out their little signal over and over again so
that people know they're there.
A basic beacon packet comprises a UUID, a major
and a minor as well as a transmission strength
indicator. These aspects allow the detecting device
to identify exactly which beacon they’re detecting,
and approximately how far away it is.

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*But were afraid to ask
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So they aren't actually sending
me things or collecting data
from me?
No! Apart from sending out their
identifying information they are
completely passive. Your
smartphone does all the heavy
lifting, controlled by whichever
application you have installed that
recognises that particular beacon.

4. Everything you always wanted to know about Beacons*
*But were afraid to ask
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Why is that useful?
Anybody around with the
right kind of device (almost
all modern smart phones)
can detect these beacons
and be given tailored
messages or experiences
that are relevant to them
and their location.

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A Business Insider report
projected that beacons will
directly influence $4 billion
in sales at top retailers in
2015. That number is
expected to increase
tenfold to about $44 billion
in 2016.

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*But were afraid to ask
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Payments
Beacons can enable your customers to pay for products on their
smartphones through a digital wallet. The process is almost the
same as completing a check-out in regular e-commerce and could be
a crucial way of engaging with millennials who are used to shopping
on-line.
Identification
You can deliver content to customers in an incredibly precise
fashion. Research shows that while consumers are generally put off
by mobile adverts, they are actually positive to them as long as the
advert is relevant to their time and place. That's exactly what
beacons enable.
Wayfinding
Have you ever noticed how GPS doesn't work indoors? You can
use carefully positioned beacons so that anybody with a
smartphone can find their way around with ease. You can guide
customers to the product they're looking for or help them find the
bathroom.
What kind of things can I do with beacons?

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*But were afraid to ask
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Are any big companies already using
beacons?
Yes! Apple in their Apple Stores, Macy's in a
nationwide roll-out of more than 4000
beacons, Virgin Atlantic in airports and even
Major League Baseball have all completed
successful pilots and deployed live beacon
projects to their customers.
Major League Baseball
mobile check-ins more
than doubled during the
season in which they first
began using beacons

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*But were afraid to ask
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What's the difference
between a beacon
and an iBeacon?
iBeacon is Apple's attempt to standardise how beacons work with their products; it's a description of
how the messages that beacons send out need to look in order to work with Apple products and not
actually the devices themselves, although people will call them that. The important thing is that
whether something is referred to as an iBeacon or a beacon, it works the same way and all types of
devices can work with them. You don't need to install two types of beacon to work with two types of
smartphone.

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iBeacon is technically a
packet layout for beacon
transmissions that’s
owned by Apple. There
are other packet formats,
notably Eddystone
developed by Google.
Eddystone is the name of
a lighthouse in Devon,
UK.

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*But were afraid to ask
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How long do they last?
Beacons were designed (using Bluetooth Low
Energy), specifically in order that they don't
consume a lot of power. They can operate in
different modes, depending on how far you need
them to send their signal, but if you are careful
with your settings and you don't need to
broadcast past a few metres, your beacons will
have power for up to 2 years.
Are they secure?
Based on the fact that the beacons themselves
are just sending out regular identifying messages,
they can be considered very secure. The risks
become greater when payments are involved, but
the security implications are related to the
smartphones and their users, not the actual
beacons.

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Thanks!
Thanks for taking the time to read this far,
and we hope you've enjoyed this
introduction to the wonderful world of
beacons. If you'd like to know more about
the topic you can find out more details at
the following sites:
http://beekn.net/
http://www.ibeacon.com/
https://developers.google.com/beacons/
https://developer.apple.com/ibeacon/
Alternatively you can contact us for a chat.
We're always happy to talk about the topics
that interest us!

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The next instalment in our
series will be arriving in
January…
Everything you
always wanted to
know about
Alternative Payments
This will include information
about Apple Pay, so keep a
look out!

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*But were afraid to ask
P13
Contact Us
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connect@gwdevices.com
www.gwdevices.com
+44 (0)114 221 2004