Beacons are being used as a micro-surveillance tool [1,2]. And that is the only prominent use they have found, among all the ones listed. Interestingly Gimbal, is a Qualcomm company or rather was a Qualcomm company as it was spun off [3]. Gimbal also had $5 beacon giveaways [4]. Gimbal had embedded its beacons in phonebooths in Chicago, LA and New York [1, 2].
[1] -http://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/exclusive-hundreds-o...
[2] - http://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/hidden-beacons-were-...
[3] - http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/qualcomm-spins-gimbal-be...
[4] -https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2013/12/09/qualcomm-a...