We all know Tile. That friendly Bluetooth-enabled tracker which helps denote the last known location of your keys, wallet or iPhone. The trouble with it, is that Bluetooth can be limited to a short range. That’s not an issue in your home but it can be troublesome if you get much further away. Ping is a new Tile competitor that is called “the world’s smallest GPS locator.” Straight out of the movies, this colorful little tag comes in at just 1.34-inches square and features “months of battery life” on a single charge.
The idea is simple, straight forward and hardly groundbreaking. Simply add a Ping locator to your gear and it will track any movements throughout the day. Open the smartphone app, and you can ‘instantly’ see the location of your item. Aside from being waterproof, it has a built-in panic button in case of emergency, making this a perfect add-on for your kid’s backpack. A one-year data plan takes care of any subscription services initially. Ping hit Indiegogo just a few days ago and has already raised over $330,000. Right now, a $99 pledge will deliver a unit in July.
Ping uses Bluetooth, Cellular and GPS to provide the most accurate possible location for each device. BTLE is used to locate the device within 35 feet of your location, cellular networks and satellites to locate devices farther away, and cellular triangulation if Ping can’t see the sky. Once Ping is located, you’ll receive a notification within the application. Bluetooth trackers, like Tile and TrackR, are great for finding things that fall behind cushions or car seats. GPS trackers already exist but they are large, have expensive data plans & need to be recharged every few days. We need a simpler solution to instantly locate anything important.
Source: Ping
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