NIST made the decision: SHA-3 will use the Keccak algorithm

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) chose a winner in the cryptographic hash algorithm competition for the SHA-3 standard. 64 applicants participated in it. Five finalists of the competition were determined almost two years ago. The winner was the Keccak algorithm (read “Ketchek” or “Ketchak” - there is no well-established version of Russian writing and pronunciation yet) created by a team of cryptologists from Italy and Belgium.

Although the SHA-2 algorithm has not yet been cracked, the adoption of a new standard is already preparing a “spare airfield” in case of the compromise of the old one. The competition for the new algorithm was announced in 2007 after the SHA-1 algorithm was compromised . This aroused fears that the SHA-2 family related to it would not stand. According to NIST experts, Keccak has been chosen for its simple and elegant design and much better performance than most competitors, and ease of implementation on various types of devices. The algorithm is fundamentally different from SHA-2, which means that the vulnerabilities that can be found in the old standard are not likely to be affected by the new one.

Source - NIST .
The official site of the Keccak algorithm.
Description of the Keccak algorithm in Russian (thanks to vassabi ).