
Long-Range (200m) BLE Beacons with 1Mb EEPROM - jimiasty
http://blog.estimote.com/post/149362004575/updated-location-beacons-200-m-range-nfc-new
======
jimiasty
Hi HN, this is Jakub, founder of Estimote, Inc. (YC S13).

We just released a new revision of our Location Beacons. We implemented new,
low power Nordic nRF52 chip and extended range to 200 metres (+10dB).

Beacons can simultanously advertise both iBeacon and Eddystone packets as well
as telemetry & sensor data + they have built-in GPIO slot.

There is also 1Mb EEPROM, so you can read/write data directly in the beacon.

You can read more on our blog:
[http://blog.estimote.com/post/149362004575/updated-
location-...](http://blog.estimote.com/post/149362004575/updated-location-
beacons-200-m-range-nfc-new)

I will be more than happy to answer any questions here.

~~~
scartracs
My power is out so I can't browse too much atm. I vaguely remember the Google
beacon being a always-on notification that launched a website link pressed.
How well does that work in android and iOS? Would it be feasible to make an
"SOS help" beacon and expect every phone nearby to be notified or similarly
spammed with an ad message?

------
gortok
How can these devices pass BLE certification and go to +10dBm?

~~~
rasz_pl
? its only 10mW, old BT Class 1 goes up to 100mW (20dbm)

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Animats
These should be great for attackers - a long-range Bluetooth device with years
of battery life. Reprogram these for the MouseJack attack.[1] Get a bag of 50
and spread them around. Profit! If you want to attack a specific company,
spread them around that company's building and nearby restaurants. If you
repaint them, who's going to notice an extra rock in the landscaping?

If the "remote updating for fleet management" can be attacked, you don't even
need to buy them; you can take over other people's.

[1]
[http://www.computerworld.com/article/3037377/security/mousej...](http://www.computerworld.com/article/3037377/security/mousejack-
billions-of-wireless-keyboards-mice-vulnerable-to-15-hijack-attack.html)

~~~
thawab
It's not similar to the devices covered in the article. This is how a beacon
work:

1- A beacon broadcast a UUID.

2- The users should install my app, the app reads the UUID.

3- The app requests the picture or video related to this UUID from my server.

If an attacker can access the beacon and modify it, then my app is not going
to find the UUID's i added to the server.

~~~
rasz_pl
and here is the attack:

-evul haxor learns about those beacons at the target location

-finds a weakness in remote firmware update

-prepares special firmware with added Microsoft/logitech mouse/keyboard emulation (nRF52 can do this). Bonus points if he can make one beacon flash other beacons in range.

-infects one beacon using long range setup (yagi, amp)

-profit

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guiomie
This is really cool, but I can't figure out a use case to buy any :/

~~~
skewart
Yeah, like a sibling comment suggests, beacons are definitely in the bottom of
the trough of disillusionment on the Gartner hype cycle chart.

There is a ton of potential for them though, but perhaps more in the
autonomous vehicles and robotics space than in the realm of current consumer
devices. Of course, there are plenty of competing technologies in the micro-
location space.

Making beacons more computationally powerful beyond just broadcasting a UUID
is an interesting development, and one competing tech, like location
fingerprinting, can't easily do.

~~~
calgoo
Yea I can see usage for big shops like wallmart etc where its next to
impossible to find something if you dont know the store. Image if these where
available for each area, and you just put in what you are looking for and it
guides you to the correct section.

~~~
rasz_pl
imagine this would work great .. if cellphones on the market were equipped
with location tracking phase arrays instead of piece of wire for antenna.

