Hello Guys,
Be Very excited to join in this community!
I am very new regarding Beacon development and research, especially the communication pattern. After folowing the introduction from website, I am getting confused about which necessary devices the system is made up of. Where can I start and how to start?
Besides, should I prepare a MAC OS notebook for development?
All your suggestions will be considered, thanks for all.
Best regards,
Tao
Hey Tao, welcome welcome! 
Estimote Beacons are primarily targeted at the iOS and Android apps. For iOS, you’ll need a Mac computer (MacBook, iMac, Mac Mini etc.) with Xcode, an iOS device to test on (iPhone 4S or later, iPad 2nd generation or later), and be a member of Apple’s iOS Developer Program (it costs $99 a year). For Android, any computer with the Android Studio and an Android device (running Android 4.3+, and compatible with Bluetooth 4.0) is enough.
Oh, and naturally, you’ll need some beacons too (: You can order them at https://order.estimote.com/
Hey Heypiotr,
Thanks for your reply, very helpful.
Could you please tell me which necessary devices the Beacon system is made up of?
Except beacons and cell phones, should I have a server or cloud?
BR/Tao
Yep, usually, an external server comes handy to store some extra information. Beacons themselves broadcast their identifier only, so you need to somehow know that e.g. the beacon no. 7 is the beacon at the entrance, and if the mobile app detects this beacon it should display a welcome notification. Technically, you could hardcode this information inside the app, but then every time you change something (e.g. add additional beacon at the entrance, or move the beacon no. 7 somewhere else), you’d need to resubmit the app for review—hence, it’s usually better to store this on an external server and make the app communicate with it. Then, you can make adjustments “on the fly”, in the database.