In this episode of the Mr. Beacon Podcast, Simon Ford—founder of Blecon and long-time Bluetooth pioneer—returns to discuss a major milestone for the company and what it could mean for the future of IoT.
Simon shares details about Blecon’s new collaboration with Zebra Technologies, a dominant player in enterprise mobility devices used by retailers, warehouses, and frontline workers around the world. These rugged Android handhelds already power inventory management, barcode scanning, and RFID workflows in countless stores and supply chains. Now, with Blecon’s software agent, they can also become nodes in a distributed Bluetooth Low Energy network.
The implication is powerful: instead of installing costly new infrastructure, companies can activate a Bluetooth sensing network using devices they already own and manage. That means asset tracking, environmental sensing, and operational visibility can be deployed through a simple software update rather than expensive hardware rollouts.
We’ll explore why IoT projects so often stall before deployment, and how leveraging existing infrastructure could finally help the industry reach “escape velocity.” We discuss practical use cases like supply-chain visibility, cold-chain monitoring, and tracking reusable assets such as pallets, totes, and rolling cages. The conversation also highlights how Bluetooth complements other identification technologies like barcodes and RFID, creating a multimodal toolkit for modern operations.
Beyond the technology itself, Simon explains how the real opportunity lies in enabling companies to ask new questions about their operations. By collecting ambient data from across the physical world, organizations can uncover inefficiencies, reduce waste, and make smarter decisions, often with surprisingly small changes.
If you’re interested in the convergence of IoT, supply chains, AI-driven analytics, and ambient computing, this episode offers a fascinating look at how Bluetooth networks may finally scale globally.
Simon’s 3 Favourite Movies:
- “Baby Driver” directed by Edgar Wright: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTvJJnoWIPk
- “A Beautiful Mind” starring Russel Crowe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWwAOutgWBQ
- “Toy Story” starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-PjgYDrg70
Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.
Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon enables physical products to communicate with cloud applications using Bluetooth Low Energy.