Google's Beacons: Eddystone

More movement towards proximity and location engagement methods.  Apparently more Open Source as well.  More vendors in this space should increase exposure to the idea.

Google Rolls Out Its Version of Beacon Technology
Eddystone Is Meant to Compete With Apple's iBeacon

Google is stepping up efforts against Apple's location technology with new tools to link smartphones to nearby objects.

The search giant on Tuesday introduced a new format called Eddystone that lets electronic beacons provide more specific locations and other information within applications, the company said in a blog post. The tools, which compete with Apple's iBeacon technology, will enable smartphone users at a museum, for example, to get more information on a painting they're looking at or to gain easy access to electronic bus tickets when they're near a bus stop. ... " 

More from the Google Developers Blog.  and in Ars Technica.

And in the Wikipedia.