For BLUE device clients,
From 6th December 2018 Google has discontinued the NearBy technology which is the ‘base’ of BLUE devices however they have actually rolled the update till 2nd January 2019 and from past few days i started getting emails from my TBB BLUE clients about non-working of BLUE devices.
QUE: So, what’s next?
I had a long discussion with my developers (in China) and they have informed me that Google has introduced Proximity 3.0, its an API that will work similarly like NearBy however permission based. Means when user receives the notification, they will see the ‘subject’ of it (that you can configure through app) however they would need to ‘chose’ to open the notification based on subject. Good thing is, this solves our purpose.
Considering i have the stock of over 8000 PCS in my warehouse and a detailed agreement with the manufacturer, they are already studying the API and planning the next move.
QUE: So, how does it affects you?
It will only affect you in terms of time, not money. Any technological changes are unpredicted and even when Google decides to ‘end’ something, they typically give 6 months to 1-year notice in advance for all developers. However, in this case, the total time frame they gave was 1 month and 10 days. This shook the developer’s world because there are companies generating 6 figure monthly revenue using same technology however they are also back to drawing board (and will come back eventually), the same way my developers are also back to study and implement the new API and final result could be:
1) Change of devices: It means, if changes are needed on ‘chipset’ level, we will change all current devices and bear all losses.
Or
2) Changes on the software side: If API is implemented on the software level then it would be a win win for all as it could be implemented on our Android app and you can simply update app from Google play store and make it work.
QUE: How should you handle your clients?
The best way to handle anything is be straightforward. Pause your contract with current local clients and inform them about the change in technology. You can pint them to this blog post too.
For agency clients, collect your devices back and inform the businesses about the issue and assure them that we are coming back with something moe powerful using same technology.
QUE: Everything looks bad for BLUE business?
– Yes and no. Few decades back we use to use landline telephones and no one could imagine a mobile phone however technology has ups and downs but eventually what matters is if we could achieve the same goal. Only thing that i don’t agree here is the little timeframe that google offered to there hardworking developers. If they would have announced it like 6 months back, we would rather have an alternate ready for it without interruption in business.
For now, we are closing the sales of devices and will relaunch them with updated API.
Any questions? feel free to leave comments and i’ll get back to you personally.
Thanks,
Tarun Rathi,
Founder,
BLUE tech
