iBeacons for Everyone, From iOS to Android

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iBeacons for Everyone, from iOS to Android! James Montemagno Developer Evangelist, Xamarin @JamesMontemagno www.Xamarin.com

description

Code: https://github.com/jamesmontemagno/iBeaconsEverywhere iBeacons are taking the world by storm allowing developers to leverage Bluetooth Low Energy to give their apps location support that can work just about anywhere including indoors. This give you the ability to enable any number of scenarios based upon device proximity that were never before possible. From retail stores to even sports including the Super Bowl and MLB, you will soon be finding iBeacons just about everywhere. Introduced as a core feature of iOS 7 iBeacon support has now found it's way to Android. You will learn what an iBeacon is, how they work, how you would want to use them, and how to get started making apps in both Android and iOS. All demonstrations will be coded in C#, but will be applicable to any iOS or Android developer in any language.

Transcript of iBeacons for Everyone, From iOS to Android

Page 1: iBeacons for Everyone, From iOS to Android

iBeacons for Everyone, from iOS to Android!

James MontemagnoDeveloper Evangelist, Xamarin@JamesMontemagno

www.Xamarin.com

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What is an iBeacon?

• Apple calls it:• “A new class of low-powered, low-cost

transmitters that can notify iOS 7 devices of their presence.”

• What does this mean?• Devices that can notify apps of exact

device proximity and location awareness that was never possible before.

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How do iBeacons Work?• Bluetooth 4.0 LE! (SMART)

• Low energy• Long battery life• 2.4Ghz Band

• Regions• Enter/Exit regions for notifications

• Ranging• Immediate, Near, Far

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“Fun” Bluetooth Specs

Spec Classic Bluetooth Bluetooth LE

Distance/Range (theoretical)

100 m (330ft) 50 m (160ft)

OTA Data 1-3 Mbit/s 1 Mbit/s

Application throughput

.7-2.1 Mbit/s .27 Mbit/s

Security 56/128-bit 128-bit AES

Peak current Consumption

<30 mA <15 mA

Power Consumption 1 mW .01 – .5 mW

Latency 100ms 6ms

Voice YES NO

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How does Bluetooth LE Work?• GATT (Generic Attribute Profile)

• UUIDs!• Flow:

--------------Attributes --------------

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What do we care about? (BLE vs iBeacon)• UUIDs

• Unique Identifier that each iBeacon has• Example: B9407F30-F5F8-466E-AFF9-25556B57FE6D

• Regions• Major & Minor• Unique region code that iBeacons can be

programmed to have.• Example: 2755, 1

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What can be an iBeacon?

• Your iOS 7.0 Device• iPhone 4S, iPad 3rd Gen+, iPad

Mini, iPod Touch 5th Gen+

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What can be an iBeacon?

• Cute Little Devices You Buy• More on this later

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What can be an iBeacon?

• NOT your Android device!

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What can find iBeacons?

• Your iOS 7.0 Device• iPhone 4S, iPad 3rd Gen+, iPad Mini, iPod Touch

5th Gen+

• Your Android Device• Well some of them… maybe… Android 4.3+• Nexus 5/4/7/10, HTC One & Max, Moto

G/X/RAZR/Ultra/Maxx/Mini, S4, Sony Xperia

• Nothing on Windows Phone or Windows 8 yet

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What can you do with iBeacons?

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In the House

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In Stadiums

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In Stores

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Apple Store

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/12/06/first-look-using-ibeacon-location-awareness-at-an-apple-store

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What else???

• Museums• Scavenger Hunts• Athletics• Restaurants• About a gazillion other things!

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Why should I care?

• Differentiates your app• Clients will start to demand it• So many uses untapped for context aware

apps• Because they are cool• Because you should

• Or maybe not• If you want to

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Where to get iBeacons?

• Your iOS 7.0 Device• iPhone 4S, iPad 3rd Gen+, iPad Mini, iPod Touch 5th Gen+

• Estimote • 3 for $100, development kits• Battery Powered (2+ years, watch battery)• Super cute

• Radius Networks• $19 - $30 per beacon• USB powered

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iOS Demo

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What is Xamarin?Unique Approach

•Native User Interface•Native Performance•Shared code across

platforms•C# & .NET Framework•Full API Coverage

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iOS Demo

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How iOS 7.1 Changed Everything!

• Background Notifications!• Wait? It couldn’t do this???• Location Permissions (opt-out)

• Harder • Better• Faster• Stronger

• Aka bug fixes…

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State of Android iBeacons

• Is it built in?• Kind of, not really…• Samsung vs HTC vs Google• Android 4.3 Changes the Game

• Kind of a development hot mess…• Crippling Bug (Bluetooth has stopped working)

• Sometimes…?• Different Implementations

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Components/SDKs to the Rescue

Estimote SDK

Radius Networks iBeacon Service

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Android Demo

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Resources•Code: https://github.com/jamesmontemagno/iBeaconsEverywhere

•Xamarin.com •Estimote.com•Android Bluetooth Docs:• http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/bluetooth-le.html

•iOS Beacons Docs: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/

userexperience/conceptual/LocationAwarenessPG/RegionMonitoring/RegionMonitoring.html

• Or search for “Region Monitoring and iBeacon”

•Cool Raspberry-Pi project:• http://developer.radiusnetworks.com/2013/10/09/how-to-make-an-ibeacon-out-of-a-raspberry-pi.html

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Stalk Me:•Twitter: • @JamesMontemagno•Blog: • www.MotzCod.es•GitHub:• /JamesMontemagno•Email:• [email protected]