BlueUp certified for a full support for Eddystone, including EID

We are thrilled and proud to announce that BlueUp has been included in the elite group of global manufacturers of BLE beacons certified by Google for a full support for new Eddystone specification, released in May 2016, including:
- core Eddystone frames: -UID, -TLM, -URL;
- new Eddystone Ephemeral ID (EID) frame;
- new Eddystone GATT service, for easy configuration.

This is a great achievement, the result of a significant R&D work of our technical team, that places BlueUp at the forefront of Bluetooth LE beacons technology.

In particular, the new Eddystone specifications introduced a new frame format, Eddystone-EID (Ephemeral Identifier), that broadcast an encrypted identifier that changes every a certain interval (from seconds to minutes, hours or days). The identifier can be resolved to useful information by a service that shares a key (the Ephemeral Identity Key, or EIK) with the individual beacon. Any use of Eddystone-EID requires both a beacon and a resolving service (such as the Google Proximity Beacon API). Eddystone-EID is appropriate for cases where beacon deployers wish to:
1. Prevent other parties from using their beacons.
2. Preserve user privacy in scenarios involving wearables or other equipment carried by the user.
3. Lease their beacon network to other parties in a way that allows a provable 'off switch' for access.
4. Provide a strong signal that a user is at a particular place, that is not easily spoofed.

Moreover, the Eddystone-TLM frame has been extended with a new version, eTLM, that broadcasts the beacon internal status (battery level, temperature, ...) also encrypted with the shared key, meaning that an attacker cannot use the battery level, for instance, as an identifying feature either.

Finally, a common configuration protocol has been introduced, the new Eddystone Configuration GATT service. A free app for Android, nRF Beacon for Eddystone, is provided by Nordic Semiconductors, to configure Eddsytone beacons to advertise all types of frame, UID, URL, TLM and the newest EID and eTLM types.

You can manage our beacons with support for new Eddystone specifications using the set of cloud services provided by Google, including Proximity Beacon API and Beacon Dashboard. You can get started with the Google beacon platform, getting a beacon and installing Beacon Tools app for Android or iOS.

All our beacons based on Nordic Semiconductors nRF5x SoC will support the new Eddystone format. Presently, the available models supporting new Eddystone format are BlueBeacon Mini, Maxi and Forte. You can buy beacons for complete Eddystone specs on our online store, selecting the option "New Eddystone FULL". For all technical and commercial information on new Eddystone beacons, please contact us.