Sunday, April 13, 2014

Learn how to program iBeacons in your Android and iOS apps - CODE Magazine May/June 2014 issue

My article on iBeacon is the cover story for the May/June issue of CODE Magazine! Grab a copy or if you prefer, read the online version here
"One of the buzzwords you hear often is Bluetooth LE, short for Bluetooth Low Energy. Bluetooth LE is a wireless personal area network technology like its previous incarnation, Classic Bluetooth. Most people are familiar with Classic Bluetooth: You pair your Bluetooth headset with your mobile phone and use it to answer your calls, etc.
However, using Bluetooth Low Energy, you don’t necessarily have to pair with a device in order to perform useful work. A number of health-related medical devices, such as the Heart Rate Monitor and Blood Pressure Monitor, allow your mobile device to connect to them and receive vital information about your health. One very cool use of Bluetooth LE is Apple’s iBeacon. Using an iBeacon, a device can detect the presence of an iBeacon and use that information to provide locale-specific functions, such as merchandise promotion, payment information, etc.
In this article, you will learn the basics of Bluetooth LE and explore the world of iBeacons. You will see how you can write iOS and Android apps that use iBeacons to provide location-based services"

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