I'm planning to replace the Beacon tag of my Bluetooth (BLE)-based localization System with a smartwatch. Therefore, the smartwatch has to be able to advertise bluetooth signals. However I can't find any information about smartwatches using BLE advertising methods. I actually don't want to use an additional smartphone which would be able to advertise. I already found that the iWatch and the Moto 360 are probably not able to advertise.
Does anyone know if there's (or will be) a smartwatch available that is able to advertise BLE signals?
Thanks a lot!
el Baum
Ok, this is not possible for Sony Smartwatch atleast. This is because in order to be able to broadcast a BLE advertisement of your choosing, any given Android device has to be able to support BluetoothAdapter.isMultipleAdvertisementSupported(). Unfortunately, this feature is not available on most Android Wear devices.
If your Android device does support multiple advertisement, then you can create an advertisement packet and use the BluetoothLeAdvertiser object to start advertising.
Related
Bluetooth 5.1 introduced the ability to include a "Constant Tone Extension" into an Advertising packet. On the receive side, a suitable device can perform Angle-of-Arrival estimation using this information. I have experimented with this technology using BLE EVK devices (Nordic).
My question is can I use a 5.1 compatible smartphone as the transmitter? How can I enable CTE in the advertising packet? Is it something that can be configured through a suitable app and android SDK, or do I need lower-level access to the phones Bluetooth modem (drivers)?
Thanks!
Since CTE is an optional feature for Bluetooth 5.1, the answer is clear: it depends.
Bluetooth direction finding is not yet supported by Android, so it would require a manufacturer-specific API to enable CTE (if it is supported by the smartphone hardware).
As far as I read about the dev boards, every SoC is capable to use Bluetooth.
I didn't tested it yet, but can I use Android Things with a Bluetooth connection? My question is, how can I enable Bluetooth without an input device? If I want to enable Bluetooth on my phone (with code), I had to confirm it, but this can't be possible on Android Things.
Update: Since the release of Android Things developer preview 3, Bluetooth and BLE are now available.
Old Answer
No. You can not use Bluetooth with the current version of AndroidThings (developer preview 1).
It is said in the known issues part of the release notes that Bluetooth is currently disabled (and so is USB).
It is supposed to be included at some point, but at the moment if you try to get a BluetoothAdapter it does return null.
Android Things will use the latest version of Bluetooth called Bluetooth Low Energy and the only similarity between the two is that they have Bluetooth in the name!
Can I use Android Things with a Bluetooth connection?
Yes, well a Bluetooth Low Energy connection
https://www.link-labs.com/bluetooth-vs-bluetooth-low-energy/
In summary, Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) are used for very different purposes. Bluetooth can handle a lot of data, but consumes battery life quickly and costs a lot more. BLE is used for applications that do not need to exchange large amounts of data, and can therefore run on battery power for years at a cheaper cost. It all depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.
Everything you need to know about BLE is written here:
https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/bluetooth-le.html
how can I enable Bluetooth without an input device?
You do not pair BLE devices like you used to with the older Bluetooth (but you can use Bonding). Check this out:
Android Bluetooth Low Energy Pairing
https://stackoverflow.com/a/20093695/413127
But as stated by #shalafi Android Things doesn't currently support Bluetooth
I'm researching iBeacons. Can I connect to iBeacons while my Bluetooth is invisible (to be protected from hacks)?
I don't have beacons to test myself and can't find any clear explanation online.
iBeacons connect to mobile phones using Bluetooth, so it is essential to have that turned on. You also need to have installed an app with iBeacon support in order to receive communication from them.
If you'd wish to use a solution that does not utilize Bluetooth, you could try out IndoorAtlas. It's an indoor navigation technology based on Earth's geomagnetic fields. It's also completely hardware-free solution, just requires you to collect fingerprints in the area you are going to use for your project.
Three points:
iBeacon technology does not rely on a bluetooth connection to your phone. Beacons are one way transmitters. They do not listen to or otherwise receive any info from your device. Beacon technology following this model is inherently privacy friendly.
Mobile devices cannot detect Bluetooth beacons with the Bluetooth radio turned off. Sorry, it is just not possible.
Properly built beacon apps will not expose your mobile device's Bluetooth info because they are receive only. Of course, other apps on your phone might use bluetooth for other purposes, so your best bet is to audit apps using bluetooth and remove any that are not doing what you want.
I just bought some beacons and tested that, The answer is YES. it is possible to read beacons mac addresses while using the phone's Bluetooth connection as invisible. Using this you will get access to your beacon in any open place without getting hacked through Bluetooth.
Thanks all for your answers.
I am trying to read serial data over Bluetooth LE but can't find any code examples for this type of bluetooth and api19. Does any one have an example?
There is no profile defined for serial data communication over Bluetooth Low Energy till now. For this one can use the Bluetooth classic only.
In any case, Android devices can not broadcast for advertising packets. They can only scan the advertising packets. Hence, these devices will be in Central mode only. But can act as either server or client.
For Bluetooth chat related app example one can refer Android SDK as,
sdk/samples/android-19/legacy/BluetoothChat
The above example is based on Bluetooth classic based on RFCOMM channel for serial communication.
Android 5.0 let mobile to be peripheral. So chat will be possible:
https://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-5.0.html
Bluetooth Classic got the SPP profile. This is not how Bluetooth Low Energy works.
In BLE you have 1 or more Services each with 1 or more Characteristics which are basically just bytes in a predefined format which by default can be max 23 bytes.
To send data from one device to another one must be the Master and the other must be Slave.
Android API19 does not support the Slave (Peripheral) role, it seems Google still doesn't understand the importance of Bluetooth Low Energy. It's so much more than just Pulse-readers.
You can send from an Android API19 phone to e.g. an iPhone which can be Slave/Peripheral.
You cannot send from an Android API19 phone to another API19 phone. For this you must use Bluetooth Classic SPP profile.
Can a WindowsCE device connect so more than one BlueTooth device? The device needs to both serve as a BlueTooth hands-free speaker for a phone and connect to a third device via a serial BlueTooth connection.
Can an application do this without the need of a speciel driver?
You must understand that Windows CE is a modular OS and any specific platform capabilities are implemented by an OEM. An OEM can create a Windows CE device with absolutely no Bluetooth support or they might choose to implement just a Bluetooth client profile (say as a bluetooth audio device) or they may choose to implement a Bluetooth server so they can consume a Bluetooth serial device. They may also choose to implement both. Beyond what the OEM does in software, the hardware itself might allow only one or the other (or both or neither for that matter).
The short of this is that we can't actually answer your question becasue there is no generic answer that fits all devices. You have to ask the Device OEM what they support and if they can extend that support if they don't support what you need.