Beacon Technologies: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Beacosystem

Proximity technology―in particular, Bluetooth beacons―is a major source of business opportunity, and this book provides everything you need to know to architect a solution to capitalize on that opportunity. Learn the key standards―iBeacon, Eddystone, Bluetooth 4.0, and AltBeacon―and how they work with other proximity technologies. Then build your understanding of the proximity framework and how to identify and deploy the best solutions for your own business, institutional, or consulting needs.
Solutions architects of all types―venture capitalists, founders, CEOs, strategists, product managers, CTOs, business developers, and programmers―will learn about the following from reading Beacon Technologies: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Beacosystem:

• The disruptive implications of digital–physical convergence and the new applications it makes possible
• The key standards that solutions developers need to understand to capitalize on the business opportunity of proximity technology
• The new phenomenon of beacon networks, which will be hugely significant in driving strategic decisions and creating wealth
• Other technologies in the proximity ecosystem catalyzed by and complementary to Bluetooth beacons, including visual light communication, magnetic resonance, and RFID
• The Beacosystem framework for analyzing the proximity ecosystem

Steve Statler is a writer, public speaker, and consultant working in the beacon ecosystem. He trains and advises retailers, venue owners, VCs, as well as makers of beacon software and hardware. Previously he was the Senior Director for Strategy and Solutions Management at Qualcomm’s Retail Solutions Division, helping to incubate Gimbal, one of the leading Bluetooth beacons on the market. He is also the CEO of Cause Based Solutions, creators of Give the Change, democratizing philanthropy, enabling non-profit supporters to donate the change from charity branded debit cards, and developer of The Good Traveler program.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Orientation
Chapter 3: Digital Physical Convergence
Chapter 4: Beacosystem Framework
Chapter 5: Standards
Chapter 6: Chipsets: Understanding the Main Building Block in a Beacon
Chapter 7: Choosing the Right Beacon
Chapter 8: Beacon Deployment Considerations: The 10 Ps
Chapter 9: Designing with Management in Mind
Chapter 10: Designing an Analytics Architecture to Leverage Proximity Data
Chapter 11: Designing with Privacy in Mind
Chapter 12: Orchestration: Making Beacons Behave More Intelligently
Chapter 13: Understanding Beacon Networks
Chapter 14: A Programmatic Advertising Primer
Chapter 15: Understanding the Integration of Mobile, Beacons, and Out-of-Home Media
Chapter 16: Alternative Technologies to Bluetooth Beacons
Chapter 17: Geofencing: Everything You Need to Know
Chapter 18: Barcodes, QR Codes, NFC, and RFID
Chapter 19: Augmenting Beacons with Cellular Network Technologies
Chapter 20: Where Beacons Are Making a Difference
Chapter 21: Using Beacons in Payments
Chapter 22: The Future, Standards, and IP: Please Stop Killing Us