Beacons, Beacon Fencing, and the Internet of Things

It is a spectacular time for developers who want to interact with the real world of things: sensors, gadgets, devices, wearables, beacons and more. Developers are not just stuck writing code for desktop, client server and multi-tier systems. Developers can now use pre-built components and servers to add new devices to their application solutions. Beacons (iBeacons, AltBeacons, Eddystone Beacons) allow developers to add proximity based features to their applications. Using BluetoothLE, these beacons allow you to find you way through a museum and a warehouse. Retail stores can help their customers find the products they are looking for and alert them to special personal offers. With Beacons you expedite the visit to a doctor's office. Using Beacons elder care centers can more effectively help senior citizens with special needs.

Using Beacon Fencing, applications can track entry and exit of a section in a house, department in a store, room in a school and more. Together Beacons, Beacon Fencing and desktop, smartphone and tablet based apps can provide new dimensions to the user experience. With the recently announced BeaconFence, developers can quickly lay out regions in a store, warehouse, hotel, office and other indoor/outdoor locations.

There are so many new ways that developers can include devices, gadgets, sensors, beacons, etc that I could go on and on writing about the use cases. I will continue to add new ideas, samples, articles and videos in the coming months. Here are just a few of the many links to additional resources to get you started in this exciting new world of the Internet of Things.

• BeaconFence - http://www.embarcadero.com/products/beaconfence
• Internet of Things Solutions - http://www.embarcadero.com/solutions/internet-of-things#start
• Extend your apps to gadgets and wearables - http://delphi.org/2014/02/connecting-delphi-to-my-brain-with-the-emotiv-epoc/
• Building Connected Apps using AppTethering - http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/RADStudio/XE8/en/Using_App_Tethering
• Home Automation Programming with RAD Studio - http://edn.embarcadero.com/article/43615

Want to learn more about how developers and businesses are going to take advantage of the new Internet of Things opportunity? Download the survey results at http://forms.embarcadero.com/15Q1IoTSurvey

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