Device and system for providing current information for a geographic point of interest

A method of providing information concerning a geographic point of reference to a user comprising:

• providing a system which includes a beacon device connected to a distributed data network, the beacon device providing an authoritative layer over the distributed data network within the system, the beacon device under control of an operator of the geographic point of interest and located at the geographic point of interest during a provision of new information, the method comprising:
• the system receiving identity information concerning the geographic place of interest;
• the system storing the identity information;
• the beacon device receiving new information including one or more of attribute information and operating status information;
• and
• transferring the new information to a location based service which is one of an online directory service, a search engine, a social media service, and a navigation system;
• wherein as the authoritative layer the beacon device stores both the identity information and the new information while the distributed data network relies on data from the beacon device in order to transfer the new information to the location based service.

A method of providing information concerning a geographic point of reference to a user comprising:

• providing an electronic publishing system which includes a beacon device connected to a distributed data network, the beacon device under control of an operator of the geographic point of interest and located at the geographic point of interest during a provision of new information, the method comprising:
• receiving identity information concerning the geographic point of interest;
• storing the identity information;
• the beacon device receiving the new information;
• storing the new information within the beacon device;
• receiving a query at the beacon device that originates from a location based service which is one of an online directory service, a search engine, a social media service, and a navigation system;
• and
• transferring the new information from the beacon device to the location based service in response to the query originally received by the location based service.