Whats The Best Micro Location Technology?

 

What’s the best micro location technology?

We compare: iBeacon, BLE, Bluetooth, NFC, QR, Wi-Fi and GPS.  GPS.  © 2014 Localz Pty Ltd

 

The gap between online and offline interaction is closing with the use of micro-location services. © 2014 Localz Pty Ltd

 

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Traditional smartphone smartphone location location services are accurate to +/- 30 meters  New smartphone services provide accuracy under 1 meter

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That’s micro-location © 2014 Localz Pty Ltd

 

iBeacon Apple’s takeononselect Bluetooth Energy Energy..Although Thanks to protocol hackers, theofstandard is now supported AndroLow Android id devices. iBeac iBeacon on works on top and has all the capabilities of BLE, the standard provides additional features that make it more attractive for use in proximity sensitive smartphone apps.  apps. 

Advantages:   frictionless experience – the technology is intuitive, fast and simple   native OS integration – special libraries make for more robust application integration   the wow factor – one of the few technologies that has consumers saying “that’s cool” •

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  Disadvantages:   iOS centric – premium experience for iOS, limited on other platforms  platforms     requires an app – consumer must install a smartphone app   active powered – beacons must be actively powered by a battery or a/c •

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Bluetooth: Smart / Low Energy v4.0 / BLE The new version of Bluetooth Bluetooth that allows for proximity proximity sensing and alerting. Supported by a range of smartphon smartphone e platforms including: iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. Unlike the older Bluetooth standard, BLE is ultra low power meaning the service can be left enabled at all times with little impact to smartphone battery consumption. consumption.  

Advantages:   multiple use cases – flexible enough to support promotion, payment and tracking events  events    position triangulation – supports highly accurate position tracking – less than 1 meter   widespread standard – supported on most smartphones  •

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Disadvantages:   requires an app – consumer must install a smartphone app   active powered – beacons must be actively powered by a battery or a/c •

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consumer awareness – the technology is relatively new and not widely known © 2014 Localz Pty Ltd

 

Bluetooth v1-2 A version of Bluetooth that has been around since the 90’s and primary used for pairing mobile phone accessories. accessories. This older technology technology was also used (in limited use cases) for providing information and coupons coupons in smart posters. One of the more popular uses was providing providing movie trailers at cinemas via Bluetooth enabled movie posters.  posters.  Advantages:   widespread standard – supported on most phones, including older feature phones  phones     established – the first technology for proximity push advertising and marketing • •

  Disadvantages:   poor customer experience – consumer needed to pair with posters, a complex process process     power drain – the older standard is a drain on phone batteries batteries     unreliable - the pairing technology often failed with multiple users in area  area   •

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QR (Quick Response) codes  codes  QR codes have been been with us since the mid 90’s. Originally designed for industrial industrial use, QR made it’s way into consumer use a decade ago. Unlike traditional barcodes, QR codes can be quickly read when scanned from any direction and work with smartphones and older feature phones.  phones.  reports from  from US marketers indicated a rise in Whilst many have pronounced the death of QR, reports scan use al byprint 38%media year over betweenadvertisements. 2012 and 2013.  Granted, this rise was observed in tradition traditional suchyear as magazine advertisements.  Advantages:   low cost of deployment – same as traditional printing costs  costs      greatest potential service base – they with nearly any phone camera   well recognised – studies indicate that work consumers are receptive to with QR ina the right context   Disadvantages:   high friction experience – customers have to take out their smartphone, launch a scanning application, then scan a code which takes them to an offer or landing page   low information density – QR holds a limited amount of information   an eye sore – in retail use, the codes are bit of an eye sore that take up valuable advertising space •

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Near Field Communication (NFC)   NFC is (relatively) big in Japan. The technolo technology gy has been built into phones since the early early 2000’s and can be use for transit ticketing, vending machine purchases and small goods purchases.   purchases. NFC is built into most premium Android and Windows mobile phones but is not currently supported Apple in and iOS content, devices. providing devices. NFC tags contact can be used to automatically triggernumbers.  events events like like: direction toby web sites, information like telephone numbers.   : Advantages:   low friction experience – users only need to tap a tag   cost ofuse deployment – typically each in bulktransactions   lower widespread in payments – nearly$0.10 60% of qualified t ransactions are via NFC in Australia  Australia  •

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Disadvantages:   lack of iOS support – iOS has over a 40% phone share in Australia Australia     security issues – hackers have used rogue NFC stickers to compromise phones in mass  mass    short range – no ability to triangulate position or interact beyond 5cm •

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Wi-Fi (802.11) Through specialised specialised software, it’s possible to use Wi-Fi as a micro-location servic service. e. Accuracy will vary depending on Wi-Fi base station configura configuration. tion. The technology technology can work as a standalone location service or used in conjunction with GPS for increased location accuracy.  accuracy. 

Advantages:   common standard – most consumers have Wi-Fi enabled smartphones and mapping services can leverage Wi-Fi data for more-precise tracking   existing infrastructure – many facilities have public Wi-Fi installed   passive detection – users do not require a native application   Disadvantages:   power hungry – Wi-Fi consumes smartphone power and base stations require a/c power   complex fit-out – for micro-location use, multiple multiple base stations are needed, needed, each requiring power and ethernet wiring - expensive electrician services services     accuracy – accuracy beyond 1 meter is an even more complex installation, limiting potential use cases •

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Global Positioning Service (GPS)   GPS powers the majority of location experie experiences nces on smartphones. Nearly every smartphone includes GPS functionality, though its use indoors is tempered due to poor signal reception. Location precision and accuracy can be augmented by other micro-location technology such as Wi-Fi and BLE.  BLE.  Advantages:   widespread standard – supported on most smartphones  smartphones    lowest cost – cost is limited to defining geographic bounds bounds     highly integrated – the technology can easily be integrated to web and native smartphone apps  apps  •

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Disadvantages:   lacks precision and accuracy – unable to uses cases that require reliable resolution under 10 meters  meters    Does not work well indoors – GPS requires line of sight to the sky  sky    power hungry – GPS consumes significant power, forcing most users to disable the service by default •

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So which is the best? We propose that no one technology trumps all others. The best is what works for the the customer – simple simple,, frictionless yet ub ubiquitous. iquitous. An effective micro-location strategy strategy will require a combination of these complimentary technologies. 

See more at www.localz.co/blog  Or email: pete.williams at localz dot co

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