Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Tile Plans to Introduce Item Trackers With Ultra Wideband Support

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,581
37,970


Tile is poised to compete with Apple's long-rumored AirTags and is planning to introduce an upgraded series of item trackers that include an ultra wideband (UWB) chip for more precise tracking.

tile-item-tracker.jpg
Tile concept art for UWB tracker, via TechCrunch​

Apple's AirTags are rumored to include the U1 ultra wideband chip that has been added into the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models. Apple's U1 AirTags will be able to offer better tracking capabilities than is possible with Bluetooth alone, which means that it is technology that Tile must match to remain competitive.

According to TechCrunch, Tile's upcoming item trackers will also use augmented reality capabilities to guide users to a lost item's location using the Tile mobile app. Apple is working on a similar solution and based on code that we've found in various versions of iOS, the AirTags too will rely on augmented reality to make it easier to find missing devices and accessories.

Prior Tile item trackers have relied solely on Bluetooth, which isn't as accurate as UWB because of the spatial data that the newer technology is able to collect.
Because UWB offers spatial awareness capabilities, it will be able to locate missing items inside or outside, even when you can't hear the tracker's ring. This could help when the missing item is buried under something -- like a sofa cushion -- or inside something like a dresser drawer, for example. It can also help to find items more easily in a larger space, like a house with multiple floors.

The Tile app, meanwhile, will allow users to launch to an AR-enabled camera view that will help to guide them to the item's location using overlays, like directional arrows and an AR view of the item's location.
Click to expand...
The iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models have U1 chips, and some Android phones support UWB, so these devices will be compatible with Tile's upcoming trackers. Apple provided third-party developers with access to the U1 chip in the newest iPhones last year.

Concept art for the new item tracker from Tile suggests it will look similar to Tile's existing trackers with a square shape, center button, keychain attachment, and a flat back that is compatible with adhesive.

Tile is planning to release the new item trackers later this year, and they will be compatible with iOS and Android devices. Apple has implemented a new system that allows item trackers to work inside the Find My app, but it sounds like Tile will be taking advantage of its own app for item location purposes.

There is no word on when Apple plans to release AirTags, and there have been signs of them in multiple versions of iOS. Many rumors suggested we'd see them before the end of 2020, but Apple has held off on a release. Earlier this week, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the AirTags would be released at some point in 2021.

Article Link: Tile Plans to Introduce Item Trackers With Ultra Wideband Support
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/01/05/tile-item-trackers-ultra-wideband/
  • Like
  • Angry
Reactions: subi257 and SchrodingersMartian
I wonder what the meetings at Tile have been like over these past couple years Lol. To my knowledge this is their only product and it’s about to get side-stepped by Apple.

I’m sure they’ll be very successful still, but I’d be pretty ticked off haha.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: alexandr
It looks very much like Apple delayed AirTags to add support for third-party implementations as well and included Tile as the partner in that.

I'd put my money on Apple announcing Find My support for third-party U1-enabled trackers and bringing Tile out on stage at their announcement.

Apple is trying to avoid anti-trust regulation in a big way right now and I can't see them gambling their more lucrative businesses on the potential revenue of AirTags.
 
  • Like
  • Angry
Reactions: koil, Kengineer, metabob and 6 others
BC2009 said:
It looks very much like Apple delayed AirTags to add support for third-party implementations as well and included Tile as the partner in that.

I'd put my money on Apple announcing Find My support for third-party U1-enabled trackers and bringing Tile out on stage at their announcement.

Apple is trying to avoid anti-trust regulation in a big way right now and I can't see them gambling their more lucrative businesses on the potential revenue of AirTags.
Click to expand...
Quite a prediction
 
  • Like
Reactions: innovationwho, LeadingHeat and SirAnthonyHopkins
BC2009 said:
It looks very much like Apple delayed AirTags to add support for third-party implementations as well and included Tile as the partner in that.

I'd put my money on Apple announcing Find My support for third-party U1-enabled trackers and bringing Tile out on stage at their announcement.

Apple is trying to avoid anti-trust regulation in a big way right now and I can't see them gambling their more lucrative businesses on the potential revenue of AirTags.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you want to put money on that? I'll bite. How much are you going to pay me when Apple don't bring Tile out on stage at the announcement?
 
  • Like
Reactions: KeithBN
newyorksole said:
I wonder what the meetings at Tile have been like over these past couple years Lol. To my knowledge this is their only product and it’s about to get side-stepped by Apple.

I’m sure they’ll be very successful still, but I’d be pretty ticked off haha.
Click to expand...

I've used tile since long before air tags were a rumour. Tile has always been crappy, and the past couple of years they've gotten incredibly bad.

They want a few dollars a month to unlock most of the functionality in the app. I deny the app GPS data since I really don't see the need for them to constantly track my location just to make my tile beep when it's nearby. I get constant nag messages about that.
I turn my phone's bluetooth off once in a while because it sometimes interacts badly with my home theatre receiver. The tile app goes nuts with notifications when I do.
And since an update about 18 months ago, 95% of the time, the tile is unable to make my phone beep even though it's a core function. This is after making sure the app is running, bluetooth is on etc. So all it's good for is to make the tile beep from the phone.

Normally, I'm not an early adopter of Apple products, but I cannot wait for airtags to be released so they can put Tile our of our misery.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jakob.bohem, bababooie, newyorksole and 7 others
I use tile and have been using it for years. I love it but it's not without it's fault. I hate...hate......HATEEEEE the quality of this product. If Tile is reading this - I want to make this clear, every single product does not last a full year because the flexing in the product causes the speaker to fail...FAIL! so as I'm searching for it, I can't hear it.

This is why I want some AR specific logic so I can use my phone to see where it is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: subi257, mhnd, LeadingHeat and 1 other person
newyorksole said:
I wonder what the meetings at Tile have been like over these past couple years Lol. To my knowledge this is their only product and it’s about to get side-stepped by Apple.

I’m sure they’ll be very successful still, but I’d be pretty ticked off haha.
Click to expand...
These are educated adults with business degrees running a company. To assume they wouldn't face competition from the likes of major tech companies and be prepared for that is sort of foolish and unimaginable. Apple is also prepared for future competitors.

Further, Apple may have a great product, but that does not automatically mean all their products end up crushing the competition. They have tried to enter many spaces - some take the lead on market share, while some still struggle to even be relevant.
 
  • Like
Reactions: newyorksole and no_idea
BC2009 said:
It looks very much like Apple delayed AirTags to add support for third-party implementations as well and included Tile as the partner in that.

I'd put my money on Apple announcing Find My support for third-party U1-enabled trackers and bringing Tile out on stage at their announcement.

Apple is trying to avoid anti-trust regulation in a big way right now and I can't see them gambling their more lucrative businesses on the potential revenue of AirTags.
Click to expand...

Good Point! I don't see a need for any company to always have the come in to destroy all competition concept.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: SchrodingersMartian
Out of curiosity, what do people actually use these for? I can't think of more than one or two things that ever get regularly misplaced, and those objects (e.g. socks, a credit card, etc) tend to be small enough that having a tag on them wouldn't make any sense...
 
  • Like
Reactions: ignatius345 and stevet
I still don't see the necessity of these. Tile isn't a huge business, sure it's a nice little niche device with some customers. But the way Apple and the media are making these things out to be the next coming of the iPhone (in sales, not features) is just crazy.
 
swester said:
Out of curiosity, what do people actually use these for? I can't think of more than one or two things that ever get regularly misplaced, and those objects (e.g. socks, a credit card, etc) tend to be small enough that having a tag on them wouldn't make any sense...
Click to expand...
I'm in the same frame of mind. People talk about special cases, but that's not the masses. Thats typically what Apple goes after.
 
BC2009 said:
It looks very much like Apple delayed AirTags to add support for third-party implementations as well and included Tile as the partner in that.

I'd put my money on Apple announcing Find My support for third-party U1-enabled trackers and bringing Tile out on stage at their announcement.

Apple is trying to avoid anti-trust regulation in a big way right now and I can't see them gambling their more lucrative businesses on the potential revenue of AirTags.
Click to expand...
Doubt it. Tile is still running crazy sales. They even shipped me a bunch of batteries for free that I didn’t even ask for. If Tile knew they were working with Apple, they wouldn’t have run up all of those expenses.

I put my money on AirPower got axed so they had to redo the way you charge AirTags. And this new way is also having issues.
 
swester said:
Out of curiosity, what do people actually use these for? I can't think of more than one or two things that ever get regularly misplaced, and those objects (e.g. socks, a credit card, etc) tend to be small enough that having a tag on them wouldn't make any sense...
Click to expand...
one in each suitcase and my backpack when traveling.
put one in my gym bag as theft is common around here.
one around my keys and one card sized tile in my wallet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back