Tile is a renowned company that develops tracking devices for items that have an easy chance to ‘vanish,’ like keys, wallets, glasses, headphones, etc.
Tile uses Bluetooth Low Energy for these tracking devices to work. You can attach the tracker with your keys and connect it to your phone through the Tile app. So, the minute you realize that your keys are no longer there where they should be, you can simply pull out your phone, check out the Tile app, and ask it to locate your keys. As soon as it locates the tracker attached with your keys, an alarm tune will start going on, helping you find your lost keys.
The Tile company sells different varieties of trackers such as Tile Pro, Tile Mate, Tile Slim, and some old models too. But all of these are Bluetooth-enabled devices and work on the same technology.
Now, there is news circulating that Tile is about to launch its first tracking device range that would work on ultra-wideband technology.
The Hypothetical Design
So far, there is nothing concrete as to how these new trackers will be, but as per the initial reports, it seems that these trackers are going to be sleek and slim like Tile Mate, with the same rounded-square or squircle shape. Just like the prior models, it is going to have a button in the center and a key chain hole in one corner. The back will be flattened to allow adhesive mounting of the device.
What is Ultra-wideband technology?
Ultra-wideband is a protocol quite similar to Wi-Fi ad Bluetooth, but the difference is that it works on short-range through radio waves at extremely high frequencies. Because it operates at a wide spectrum of GHz frequencies and wavelengths, it can capture spatial and directional data with more accuracy than that of Bluetooth-enabled devices.
It is like a radar that constantly looks around and scans the environment, and can lock with a particular item, locate its exact placement, and even communicate with it.
Now imagine an ultra-wideband-enabled device like a phone, or smart key, or perhaps your smartwatch. If it gets close to another UWB-enabled device, the range of both devices will sync, and they will start ranging. Ranging refers to the time of flight between both the devices, which means the time between the emission of a signal and its return to the sensor after getting reflected by an object.
Because this technology uses larger channel bandwidths with very short pulses of around 2 nanoseconds each, the spatial and directional data that it achieves is highly accurate. It can even gauge the movement of devices in real-time. Therefore, it can safely be said that ultra-wideband technology enables the devices to comprehend the motion and relative position.
Devices Using the UWB Technology
Very few devices use this technology so far.
Samsung is already incorporating it in its Galaxy Note20 Ultra Smartphone, and Apple is also developing Tile-styled tracker devices called Airtags. They are also reported to be launched in 2021, but Apple has not confirmed officially.
Google is also introducing UWB support for Android devices somewhere around 2022.
Tile is going to use an augmented reality-enabled camera view with this technology. This view will help the users to locate their lost items with the help of arrows.
I’m Ava Paul, an experienced news website author with a special focus on the entertainment section. Over the past five years, I have worked in various positions of media and communication at World Stock Market. My experience has given me extensive knowledge in writing, editing, researching and reporting on stories related to the entertainment industry.
