Bluetooth® beacons are taking off. They enable “proximity-aware applications” for customers, businesses, and industrial environments.

• End customers benefit through instant coupons and tailored offerings based on where they are.
• Businesses benefit through improved visibility to customer buying habits and increased loyalty.
• Industrial companies benefit through improved asset monitoring and utilization.

This paper covers a lot of territory:

• We examine beacon applications to help you brainstorm some of your own. 
• We provide a short history of Bluetooth and its derivatives, including Bluetooth low energy and beacons. 
• We cover the leading beacon pseudo-standards at a high level, and in detail in the Appendix. 
• We provide references to field-hardened example code and tools to develop and deploy it. 
• And we provide information on end-to-end solutions to get you started.