Are there Open Alternatives to Ibeacon?

Broadcasting? Ie non-connectable advertising. You can take a look at the SimpleBLEBroadcaster example included in the BLE stack.

Cheers,
Fredrik

Are you building a mobile app? If so, you won't be able to get through Apple's location frameworks without using iBeacon.

If you're referring to non-mobileOS standards, take a look at redbear.net - their hardware is easily configurable and you're not locked into their system like with Estimote and others. 

Yes, the application needs to run on mobile platforms, both Android and IOS.     

Lock in, is something I'm deeply adverse to.     Can you use iBeacon with Android?

Yes - Android 4.3 and higher and any smartphone with a BLE 4.0 chip, which includes most mid-high end Android phones . Here's a full list: www.bluetooth.com/.../Bluetooth-Smart-Devices-List.aspx

Thanks Dan. Maybe i mis understood Apples position on it then. I thought they had somehow locked it out.

Yea the confusion is in the terminology, iBeacon. Everybody else refers to it as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4.0, which is far less sexy.

By the way, if you are interested in connecting your app to already-deployed beacons rather than your own, I'm working on a new project: madewithray.com :)

Cheers

Hello,

Please see the "Bluetooth Smart Beacons" App Note on the BLE Wiki. This should provide some background on "beaconing" as well as how to use TI BLE devices for beaconing.

Best wishes