'After two years of research and development work with beacons,...

'After two years of research and development work with beacons, the potential to use the technology as a key connecting technology for the Internet of Things is where we see its true potential. This means being able to get information about the current state of assets that the beacon may be connected to.'

'...one of the limitations with Apple's iBeacon. Managing large deployments of beacons has proven to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks for large scale deployments. Apple put beacon technology on the map, yet it's now Google that appears to be running with it. It makes sense. Apple's push for iBeacon has always been about the user experience and making it easier for users to interact with digital devices in physical spaces. Getting companies to understand the benefits of this is a challenge.'

http://www.developer-tech.com/news/2015/jul/21/which-beacon-shines-brighter-eddystone-or-ibeacon/

100% software only beacon? No hardware.