Radius Networks Announces Availability of iBeacon Development Kit
Washington, DC (PRWEB) October 15, 2013 -- Radius Networks, Inc., the leading provider of mobile proximity services, today announced the iBeacon development kit for developers and hobbyists interested in building their own iBeacon Bluetooth Low Energy proximity beacons based on the low-cost and easily-accessible Raspberry Pi computing platform.
iBeacons are short range, Bluetooth Low Energy transmitters that can notify mobile devices when they come within 100 feet of the beacon location. This micro-location proximity awareness can be leveraged to deliver a slew of new innovative solutions, such as precision indoor navigation, automated ticketing, guided museum tours and location-relevant offers and promotions.
The Radius Networks development team faced the challenge of how to test mobile proximity solutions based on Apple’s iBeacon support in iOS 7. “When Apple announced iBeacon capabilities in iOS 7, developers like us were really excited about using them to create new proximity-aware mobile apps. However, without access to commercially available iBeacons, it was a real challenge to validate these solutions at any significant scale,” said David Young, Radius Networks Chief Engineer.
“We decided to reverse engineer the iBeacon messaging and figure out how to build them ourselves,” said Chris Sexton, Director of Engineering at Radius Networks. “Our approach was to stick with off-the-shelf components and open source software to keep the beacons simple, accessible and cost-effective.”
“Clearly, we weren’t the only team facing this challenge. Since we successfully figured out how to build iBeacons, we felt that it was only right for us to share what we’ve learned with the rest of the development community,” added Aaron Kromer, Radius Networks Lead Software Developer.
“Developers and hobbyists interested in experimenting with iBeacons can now buy a complete kit from us or use the step-by-step instructions we’ve provided and acquire the necessary parts on their own. Either way, we think this is a significant step in helping the developer community move forward with creating exciting new proximity-aware mobile solutions,” said Radius Networks CEO, Marc Wallace.
About Radius Networks
Radius Networks creates new and innovative ways to use wireless device signals for proximity and presence detection. Radius Networks’ cloud-based proximity services networks are used by major retailers, restaurant chains, sports complexes and other brick-and-mortar operations to generate invaluable business intelligence and drive innovative customer engagement opportunities, including targeted mobile offers, dynamic digital signage and personalized concierge services. For more information, visit http://radiusnetworks.com or follow Radius Networks at @radiusnetworks.
David Helms, Radius Networks, http://radiusnetworks.com, +1 703-582-1576, [email protected]
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