Google introduces new open format, APIs for building apps with BLE beacons

Google has announced several new products around its open source Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon format.

Beacons are low-energy battery-friendly hardware that uses Bluetooth to transmit data.

According to the Techcrunch, the new products include a new open beacon format, tools and APIs for building apps and services on top of beacons and a new developer-centric service for managing and monitoring large beacon.

Google's new Eddystone format is a new format, which is meant to give developers a more robust and extensible way for working with beacons.

The new format is completely platform agnostic and any existing beacon can be made Eddystone compatible with a firmware update.

Google is launching two new APIs for developers who want to use beacons for their apps. The Nearby API for Android and iOS now makes it easier for apps to find and communicate with devices and beacons that are well nearby.

The Proximity Beacon API then takes this a step further and helps developers associate a location and related data with beacons. That data is stored on Google's servers.

For now, Google does not plan to charge for Eddystone.