Tile is planning to compete with Apple’s rumored AirTags which are said to use ultra-wideband technology in the form of its U1 chip (via TechCrunch).
Tile UWB Trackers
Ultra-wideband allows for more precise location tracking and so far we’ve seen it included in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models. TechCrunch uncovered internal concept art (shown above) of a Tile tracker that will use UWB and a feature that lets people use augmented reality to track down items, again similar with AirTags and the FindMy app.
A spokesperson for Tile said:
While we can’t comment on our product roadmap, we’re constantly looking to improve our customer experience and solve the pain point of finding lost items.
Sources familiar with Tile’s plans say the company will release this tracker later this year for iOS and Android devices. Tile will keep its current line of trackers that use Bluetooth because UWB is only found in newer devices.
Samsung also plans to use UWB in item trackers called SmartThings, which it unveiled at the 2020 Samsung Galaxy Unpacked virtual event.