A brief overview of significant innovations in the world of Bluetooth beacons

The main use for Bluetooth beacons is to solve indoor positioning problems. Sometimes, a banal finding in the signal radius is enough. Sometimes, you need to apply a Kalman filter . The range of application contexts is also wide, and varies from use in sales (English) to help (English) to people with visual impairments.

Over the past couple of weeks, two of the largest players in this market have released new devices that significantly expand the possibilities for developing solutions based on this technology. It is noteworthy that both firms have a vision that goes beyond the application of this technology in smartphone applications.
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Unfortunately, these events passed unnoticed by Habr. Under Habrakat, an attempt by your humble servant to fill this gap.

Kontakt.io



Two weeks ago, Contact conducted a presentation (English) of a new line of devices. Perhaps the most significant innovation in the beacon itself, was the addition of NFC. Modestly. But it’s not for nothing that the company widely advertised this event in all its channels?

The answer becomes obvious after reading the device called Gateway and the card beacon.

The card beacon has modest dimensions, only 2mm thick. In addition to the BLE module itself, RFID is also integrated, with the ability to add NFC. The battery life is 8 months.

Gateway acts as an independent hub for beacons located within its range. Including the card. With it, you can collect data, as well as set commands based on certain variables. For example, if the beacon is detected / lost, then you need to send a push notification.

More information about the specification of devices and pre-order can be left on the link .

Estimote



Now, I want to bring to your attention a device called Mirror. This is the first video beacon in the world. How exactly does it work? As mentioned earlier, this device also does not need the presence of a smartphone. Based on the SDK, you can create applications for TVs with HDMI and USB slots (power supply for the beacon). On board the device is also present module WiFi.

In the promotional video as an example, showing the route at the airport, as well as displaying individualized offers in stores. It is noteworthy that in the first case, of course, you need a phone. In the second, it is enough to install a BLE sticker from the same company on the product itself.

Link for pre-orders.

Conclusion
Both companies presented very interesting devices. It serves as a breath of fresh air against the background of skepticism that has been around this technology lately.