Did Kontakme Just Kill The Traditional Business Card?

The Contact Link BLEU product is the newest addition to the Kontakme product line that we are rolling out. Small, Powerful, and Practical.

Kontakme is very happy to announce the release of our second product that is designed to make it even easier to digitally share your contact info without using your smartphone. We would like to present our new product called the Contact Link BLEU (pinch your nose and say "blue"). BLEU stands for bluetooth low energy (BLE) unit. The unit is a small, battery operated device that you can carry comfortably for long periods of time. It is designed to send your contact link (or a public contact list) up to 10 meters away (line-of-sight) to multiple recipients simultaneously when you switch it on. Any bluetooth enabled smartphone in range that has the Physical Web* app or Phy Web* app will be able to see and open your contact link and save your contact info. This is perfect for personal use and for business networking activities such as in meetings, social gatherings, exhibits, and conferences. Imagine having an infinite supply of business cards for the cost of one (1) box of business cards. The economical and practical benefits of using this device provides compelling reasons as to why you should use it. It will save you money in the long run, you will always have it when you need it, it has a very long battery life that can outlast any smartphone, and it gives you the advantage of being in many places at the same time using multiple BLEUs.

While the Contact Link Plus business card was designed for business card users, the Contact Link BLEU is for those who prefer not to carry a lot of physical business cards anymore and those who are switching to an all digital lifestyle. This evolutionary product may look new in the market, but in reality it uses the existing principles used in BLE proximity devices , also known as beacons. They are in use today by retail stores for sending advertisements to smartphones.

So how do you use it? There are 5 easy steps on how to use BLEU to send your contact link to a group of people. Do note that to be able to receive the contact link from the BLEU, the receiving smartphone should have the Physical Web of Phy Web app installed and the bluetooth and Internet services turned ON. The Physical Web and Phy Web apps can be downloaded for free from the Google Market Place Store and Apple App Store. Kontakme is working with key strategic groups (beacon vendors) to help promote the use of the Physical Web framework.

1. Turn ON your BLEU.

2. Tell your receivers to turn ON their bluetooth and Internet service in their smartphones.

3. Then tell them to open their Physical Web app or Phy Web app and look for your name. They should see something similar to the image below:

Physical Web UI

Phy Web UI

4. Then tell them to select you from the list of profiles that may appear and it will open your contact page in their Internet browser. That's it, you've just transferred your contact link to multiple receivers without even opening your smartphone. How convenient is that?!

5. As long as your BLEU is turned ON, anybody in range will be able to see your contact info. Turn OFF your BLEU to stop transmitting.

As this becomes part of mainstream use in the future, when someone asks for your contact info, you simply turn ON your BLEU in your pocket and inform your receiver to check you in the Physical Web app.

Device Compatibility

The BLEU works with Android devices with at least the OS version 4.4.4 though we have not tested it thoroughly on older model phones. Most iPhones version 5 and up should also work based on the online documentations. Bluetooth and Internet access is required.

What is Physical Web and why is it needed?

In a nutshell, the Physical Web is an open source universal proximity beacon scanner app developed by Google to detect URLs that are being broadcasted by BLE beacons that are installed in most Internet of Things (IoT) devices. It's like an Internet browser but designed for the physical world, hence the name physical web. Instead of searching for stuff in the Internet, it searches for physical objects around you that are connected to the Internet and they act as triggers or gateways to services or control functions. Right now, most IoT devices come with their own apps. Google believes that the key to usability is universality, so they created an app that can universally "talk" to IoT devices and they are pushing developers to develop web based apps as opposed to native apps to control the IoT devices. Physical Web* is available in Android and iOS devices.

The next time you see this symbol in a public area, turn ON your bluetooth and open your Physical Web app.

Phy Web app is one of the evolutions of the Physical Web app developed by BKON Connect, Inc.

Range and Battery Life

The BLEU is configured for a range of 10 meters (line-of-sight), and a battery life of at least 5 months of continuous use (always ON). The coin type battery is easily replaceable.

Cost

Our Introductory price is $28.00 per unit for North American clients (7 days shipping included). For orders outside of the US, shipping cost will be added using UPS or FEDEX rates. We hope to make this product commercially available for purchase in our website by middle of January 2018. We will accept orders as early as this year and will start shipping by next year in small volumes.

What does the future hold?

BLEU version one is just the tip of the iceberg. We will launch at least 2 new products in the 1st quarter next year to start stimulating the market and hope to put Physical Web in everybody's radar. I personally believe the potential that the Physical Web and the apps that it evolved into puts in the table for human socialization and people networking is very exciting. Imagine entering a social networking gathering where almost everybody is new to everyone. With contact links and BLEU, you won't need formal introductions. Before approaching someone, you will be able to know enough about the person to start a meaningful conversation. This scenario is not science fiction anymore. It is doable today and by doing so, we are helping change the landscape on how we use contact links to build bridges and relationships.

So did we just kill the traditional business card?

Not quite. It will take some time before majority of the mobile Internet users adapt the concept of the Physical Web. For how long? There is really no telling, but you be the judge. And besides, there are practical things that the ordinary business card can do that most digital business cards can not do. Back in the days when I was still working for a large telecom supplier, I would attend meetings where I was with at least 5 colleagues. After we gave our business cards to the client and everybody was seated, the client would arranged the cards according to where we were seated to make it easy for him to pick the right person to address his questions. You can not do that with a digital or virtual business card. Traditional business cards also do not require power, hence you can store them for as long as you like and it will be ready to go whenever you need it. With a digital business card, especially those that are app based, once your phone runs out of juice, you would hope you still have a business card tuck away in your wallet. And the face-to-face exchange of traditional business cards is way formal and faster than how digital business cards are exchanged. We still believe traditional business cards are here to say, however, they now pack a punch and they can do more for you if you integrate our contact links in your business cards.

Sign-up for a Kontakme account and start using contact links. It takes less than 5 minutes to sign up for the basic service which we are offering for free!

* Physical web is a trademark of Google, while Phy Web is a trademark of BKON Connect, Inc. and uses the same framework as Physical Web. Both apps are designed to read and display URL addresses being transmitted by bluetooth low energy beacons. We highly recommend Phy Web over Physical Web. We have received news that development of the Physical Web has already stopped and it is now being used only as the framework for developers to develop their own apps.

Contact Link Plus and Contact Link BLEU are trademarks of Kontakme LLC.

Tags :BLE, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Business Cards, Contact Link BLEU, Contact Links