Apple's iBeacon sensor technology gets another vote of confidence for use in location-based services

Apple's iBeacon technology will be used by Zebra Technologies to enable customized location-based advertising within retail stores and other venues.

At the National Retail Federation's annual convention, which begins today, Zebra is demonstrating how Zatar, its cloud-based Internet of things (IoT) platform, can work with iBeacons to deliver customized messaging and deals to shoppers. Specifically, the demo will show how iBeacon can communicate with Zatar by sharing a consumer's location with a third-party sensor display application.

Though it didn't get a lot of attention when it was announced at the company's WorldWide Developer Conference during summer 2013, Apple's iBeacon technology is already making waves in the micro-location market. The technology extends location services by recognizing the presence of iOS and other devices via the use of Bluetooth Low Energy (also called Bluetooth Smart), which reduces power consumption via a low pulsing method but also works with the previous "Classic Bluetooth" versions.


Zebra cited Ben Bajarin, analyst at Creative Strategies, who has estimated that up to 190 million Apple iOS devices, as well as a growing number of Google Android devices, support Bluetooth Smart and iBeacon.

"As iBeacon technology becomes more widely deployed, retailers will have an immediate opportunity to transform consumer shopping experiences by integrating location services and display messaging in their stores with minimal investment," said Phil Gerskovich, Zebra's senior vice president of new growth platforms.

Apple's iBeacon is not the only gas sensor game in town, however. For example, Qualcomm last month announced the commercial release of its Gimbal-brand proximity beacons, which also employ Bluetooth Smart technology. And Estimote, which is also targeting the retail market for its wireless beacons, recently raised a $3.1 million seed round from numerous venture firms and angel investors.

In addition to Bluetooth Smart, other micro-location approaches are based on technologies such as Wi-Fi, electromagnetic signals, sound waves, impulse radio ultra wideband and more.

Zebra noted that growing use of cloud computing and the ubiquity of wireless networks have made connecting devices and pressure sensors more cost-efficient, fueling the rapid growth of the Internet of Things.

In a recent blog entry, Creative Strategies' Bajarin forecast that 6 billion connected devices will ship in 2016. "In 2015 alone connected devices will generate over 8 billion zetabytes of data. By 2020 there will be over 200 billion connected devices in use," he said.

Bajarin added that by 2025, he expects there will be 1 trillion connected objects in use.
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Lightower plans aggressive fiber expansion in Chicago

Chicago is about to get a big fiber boost.

Lightower Fiber Networks, which bought the commercial broadband network formerly operated by RCN Telecom Services, is laying down 40 miles of new optical fiber cable in the area over the next 12 months. It plans to connect more than 30 new buildings to its network that runs from the Loop to the suburbs.

Total buildout throughout the market is likely to cost tens of millions of dollars. "It's a pretty big investment," CEO Rob Shanahan says. "It's expensive to build in Chicago."

It's one of the first significant new fiber buildouts since the massive construction during the dot-com boom that produced a glut of optical fibers capacity that lasted more than decade. Now, though, networks are straining from an explosion of social media networks, smartphone and tablet usage, streaming of movies and TV shows, and the push to computerize medical records and make them accessible across vast health care networks.

Lightower, based in Boxborough, Mass., plans to connect buildings in the Loop as well as major data centers in the suburbs.

The company already has fiber connecting major data center hubs, such as CME Group Inc.'s facility in Aurora and 350 E. Cermak Road, which is home to many of the city's trading firms, markets, as well as major telecommunications carriers and Internet service providers. It also leases a fiber connection to the East Coast financial markets.

"We're going to reinforce the fiber downtown to Cermak and build another fiber ring in the Loop," Mr. Shanahan says. "We're going to add fiber from downtown out to Elk Grove Village, then ring in Elmhurst, pick up Oak Park and connect to Aurora."

Making an aggressive bet on demand, Mr. Shanahan plans to extend connections into as many as 20 buildings on speculation.

"We have fiber in about 200 buildings," he says. "But we're missing key buildings on Wacker Drive. That's where we're starting."

Lightower is expanding in just two markets — Chicago and northern Virginia, another major Internet hub. "Chicago is where we're doing the most expansion," Mr. Shanahan says. "Given the size of the market, we think we'll get the most bang for our buck."

The move underscores the importance of Chicago as one of the world's main fiber-optical fiber manufacturer. Lightower moved into the Chicago market in 2013, acquiring nearly 350 miles of fiber when it merged with Sidera Networks, which is the former RCN commercial business.
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