Beacon Hardware Key Players
Continuing our Beacon study, here we are with the second article on Beacons. In this we primarily discuss various key players for Beacon Hardware. There are a number of Beacon / i-Beacon hardware vendors and some are listed below, along with their capabilities and use cases.
- Estimote: Estimote Beacons are small wireless sensors that can be located at any location or can be attached with an object. These are basically used for proximity application to get nearby locations and objects, objects type, ownership, approximate location, temperature and motion. They have an inbuilt powerful ARM processor, memory, Bluetooth , and temperature and motion sensors. Powered by a coin battery, which broadcast radio signals through built-in antennas. More details can be found at http://estimote.com/
- Kontakt : Kontakt beacons are fully configurable with API (auto-import to Web Panel), which can be integrated with an app with few lines of code or less and it also has full backup through cloud service. This support one click OTA firmware update and 1000mAh high capacity replaceable battery which can work up to 2 years. More details can be found at http://kontakt.io/
- Radius Networks : Radius Network introduce the industry’s first multi-beacons technology, providing concurrent support for both iBeacon, AltBeacon technologies, and seamless services across iOS, Android, and other mobile operating systems. They support wide range of power and packaging options, including AC-power, USB-power, long-life battery, indoor and outdoor, weatherproof packaging. More details can be found at http://www.radiusnetworks.com/
- Gimbal: Gimbal device produced, combines advanced geo fencing and analytics. Bridging the physical and digital worlds with unmatched security features and privacy controls. It has the world’s largest distribution of industry-leading Bluetooth Low Energy beacons with iBeacon technology. http://www.gimbal.com/
- Blue Cats: These cat-shaped beacons have two AA batteries that are easily replaceable and with the versatile mounting plate it makes it easy to put them anywhere. It has over the air remote management and proprietary encryption so that they are not used by anyone else. http://www.bluecats.com/
- Blue sense Network: It has best in class iBeacon certified beacons with multiple certifications like CE, FCC, IC etc. It’s compatible with all Bluetooth enabled smartphones. It’s fully configurable over-the-air and has battery and USB option. The secure firmware ensures tamper-free operation and has 200m+ of long range models available. http://bluesensenetworks.com/
- Gelo: These beacons are fully functional using two standard AAA batteries lasting for over two years. They are dust and water resistance with IP66 rated. They are rugged, all-terrain and all-season devices. Have FCC certification and Bluetooth SIG approval. It supports all mobile platforms. http://www.getgelo.com/
- Glimworm : They are small BLE transmitters that use Apple’s iBeacon to send a small radio signal to smart phones up to 50 meters away. They are super secured with a 6 digit PIN code to operate. They are nicely designed and can be rebranded with your company brand and logo and the code is open source. http://glimwormbeacons.com/
- Accent-systems : Has 7 times more of battery life and the battery can be replaced in just 4 seconds. It has secure password protected ODA firmware. It can configure all the parameters, including UUID, Major, Minor, and more and has consistent delivery of quality signal reception and stability over a maximum range. http://www.accent-systems.com/
- GPShopper : Their beacons are pre-integrated with their enterprise-class mobile content management system and reporting tools for retailers, making set-up, management and reporting easy. They can be used for both proximity marketing and, for reporting only. https://www.gpshopper.com/
- GCell: A UK manufacturer of the world’s first Solar iBeacon. It has an average life of 8 years at iBeacon standard. Whats more it works off any source of light, even artificial indoor light. http://www.ibeacon.solar
Top 5 Deployed Beacons Manufacturer ( Source: REVEAL Mobile)
More Detailed information can be seen in Below Embedded Slide-share
