Just a day after Apple touted its beefed-up privacy precautions for AirTags — in the wake of criminal incidents involving the tracking devices — an article in The New York Times on Friday showed their superiority to Tile and GPS trackers.
A reporter tracked her husband using all three kinds of devices. She found the AirTags not only better at tracking him in an urban area, but also better at tipping him off to the tracking.
Tile, the company famous for its Bluetooth tracking gadgets, is selling itself to Life360 for $205 million. The move comes just six months after Tile was forced to face its toughest competition yet — Apple’s popular AirTag.
Life360, which offers a family safety service, said the Tile acquisition will allow it to “provide a unique and all-encompassing solution for finding the people, pets and things.” The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.
The new generation of Tile trackers for 2021 offer sleeker new designs, increased range, a louder ring and a new way for lost items to be found and returned.
Tile has had to step up its game now that it faces competition from Apple AirTag.
Not interested in AirTag? Enjoy up to 20% off Tile trackers instead. The teeny-tiny Tile Mate can be yours for just $19.99 — $10 less than Apple’s tracker — while the wallet-friendly Tile Slim is down to $24.99.
That’s a sweet saving of $5 on both models. Or you can save $8.99 on a Tile Mate four-pack. Bag yours before the discounts disappear.
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In a letter to the judiciary subcommittee investigating antitrust complaints against Apple, the company takes aim at companies like Spotify, Tinder and Tile.
All three companies previously criticized Apple’s dominance of the App Store. But Cupertino says they are simply airing “grievances related to business disputes” rather than making legitimate arguments about competition-related issues.
The upcoming Chipolo One Spot could rise to be a top Bluetooth item tracker. And if that happens, it’ll be with Apple’s help. The product will be one of the very first accessible through Apple’s Find My network, which means iPhone, Mac and iPad users can locate it without having to install any software from Chipolo.
The same is true of AirTags, Apple’s own much-rumored item tracker expected to be released soon.
The Find My application built into iOS and macOS finally opened up to device trackers made by other companies, not just Apple. Wednesday’s move allows iPhones, Macs and iPads to locate lost items produced by third-party accessory makers without needing to install additional software.
The first supported non-Apple products come from Belkin, Chipolo and VanMoof.
Tile reportedly will move beyond Bluetooth for its future item-tracking tags, which will add support for ultra-wideband tech. The move could be prompted by a need to compete with Apple AirTags, the long-rumored item trackers that supposedly will employ UWB.
The upgrade also could signal that Tile joined a new Apple program that allows third-party trackers to connect to the Find My network created by iPhones, Macs and other Apple devices.
Two noted sources for insider Apple information talked about the upcoming AirTags on Monday. That includes a video of one of these item-tracking tags supposedly created by Apple itself.
Clip a tile Bluetooth tracker to your luggage, lose it, and if the Tile network can’t find it, then the company will pay you up to $1,000 in reimbursment. The goal of the new Tile Premium Protect plan is to demonstrate how confident the maker of these trackers is in its network.
But the offer isn’t available to every Tile owner.
