

How the 49ers Are Using Beacons to Help You Find Hot Dogs and Beer - turoczy
http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/04/how-the-49ers-are-using-beacons-to-help-you-find-hot-dogs-and-beer/

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rmxt
Can anyone with a little more knowledge about either iBeacons or WiFi MAC
Address triangulation explain how active or passive one needs to be in order
to participate or opt-out of such activities? From what I understand, the
iBeacons can only interact with your phone if you have a specific app
installed, e.g., if you have the 49ers app installed on your phone and you
have Bluetooth enabled, it listens in the background for iBeacon broadcasts
and might show you the corresponding push notification that it has downloaded
when you get within range of iBeacon x. At the same time, the venue can
determine your location accurately down to the spacing of the beacons. What
happens if you have Bluetooth enabled (but not visible) but not a venue
sponsored app? Are iBeacons (or similar Bluetooth beacons) capable of mapping
these users? I presume that no push notifications could occur in this case.

As for WiFi triangulation, my limited understanding is that it relies on users
walking around with WiFi kept on. Can push notifications occur even if the
user doesn't connect to the venue's WiFi but has a sponsored app? Is a phone's
active search for familiar SSIDs enough for venue hotspots to observe the
movement of MAC addresses/phones? What about a phone without a sponsored app
and WiFi enabled but not connected? (I think this is the 'sunsetted' tech
mentioned in the article.)

Thanks.

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herge
According to [http://nfarina.com/post/101309491728/lets-talk-about-
beacons](http://nfarina.com/post/101309491728/lets-talk-about-beacons) , all
iBeacons do is broadcast over bluetooth a unique id, which your phone can read
silently.

From there, specific apps installed on your phone will register to specific
ids to listen to, and then can send that information off to a third party if
the phone is connected to the internet.

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swamp40
From the comments: _If only they 'd use these to find the damn endzone._

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mikeyouse
I wish they'd use them to find an exit from the stadium that doesn't take two
hours.. I know all new things have growing pains but all of the tech and
logistics at Levi's has left me very disappointed thus far.

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sharkweek
More disappointing than the team playing at Levi's?

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capkutay
I'm not commenting on the technology, but the organization itself.

They did a terrible job with that stadium. Want to know a terrible way to
spend a Sunday? Staring directly into the sun watching a football game and
succumbing to splitting headaches for 24 hours. They spent over $1B, they
should've made the stadium a dome in that Santa Clara weather (like the
stadium in Arizona) instead of positioning 75% of the crowd directly at the
sun!

All the apps, beacons, and concession stand technology in the world won't keep
fans in those seats during the game.

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georgespencer
Major challenge here (at a guess) is activation. The majority of the
advertising/activation will come in-situ at the stadium. But 100,000 people
trying to download an app over a cell network in that kind of proximity is
going to be trouble. I can't even access Twitter at Stamford Bridge in London
(40,000 people).

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emeraldd
Considering the scale of impact this kind of technology has the potential to
have, I'm surprised at how little news there is out there on it. It will be
interesting to see how it all plays out when the public figures out just how
ubiquitous this little toys are going to be ...

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dusing
Anyone have a good source for bulk beacon purchases? I need 200+ in the next 3
months.

~~~
emeraldd
Gimbal can should able to do that, though I would avoid their series 10
beacons if you want the battery to last more than 2 weeks. Series 20s are a
bit big (a little larger than wallet sized) and use standard AA batteries (4
each) instead of something exotic.

There's also [http://kontakt.io/](http://kontakt.io/) but they require a more
exotic battery. I'm not sure about production capacity though.

~~~
bennyg
I've had the same experience with battery life on the series 10 beacons as
you. Haven't tried the 20 yet. What're those like as far as general battery
life goes?

~~~
emeraldd
To tell the truth, I don't have experience with one running dead yet. We've
had a few around the office for the last 4~5 months now.

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josefresco
Two Aruba Beacon stories on the front page of Hacker News in the same day?

~~~
Mandatum
I find beacons a novelty item outside of true targetted tracking ala York's
"free" WiFi.

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goo
Now if only they could use them to find the endzone...

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trhway
And closest paramedic in case of heatstroke .

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michaelvkpdx
This is innovation? Why would anyone waste their time developing this?

You know how you find beer and dogs at a stadium? Go walk the concourse!
Follow the smell! Flag down a vendor!

What an utter waste of time and money.

