Thursday, Samsung announced plans to launch an updated version of its Galaxy SmartTag smart trackers, aptly dubbed SmartTag +, worldwide on April 16, with a launch in the United States expected sometime “in the coming weeks.”
These smart trackers attach to your keys, wallet, or anything you often lose to help you find them through an app. The design was first popularized by Tile a few years ago, and while the rumors did long circulated about Apple developing a similar device, reportedly, Apple AirTag, Samsung hit them at once with the announcement of its Bluetooth-powered Galaxy SmartTag in January. At the time, Samsung mocked that a version with ultra broadband technology, one of the latest fashion words in consumer technology, it could be on the horizon. And now we have a release date.
For a Samsung Press release, the SmartTag + will offer support for both UWB and Bluetooth Low Energy, a variant of traditional Bluetooth that does not consume as much battery power and is already included in the original SmartTag. The SmartTag + is a bit more expensive than its predecessor: $ 39.99 compared to the $ 29.99 price of the SmartTag.
In addition to being able to pinpoint more accurately your lost items, the enhanced spatial awareness functionality provided by SmartTag + UWB technology means you can use augmented reality to visually guide users to lost tokens using their smartphone camera if they have a phone smart equipped with UWB. You can also choose to ring the tracker as you approach its location, or have other users join your search using a feature similar to “Community meeting” network announced for Tile’s next UWB technology tracker. However, your location data is protected, Samsung said on Thursday:
“All SmartThings Find data is encrypted and protected, so the location of the tag is not revealed to anyone but you.”
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You can see an example of how RA function for SmartTag + works in the following graph. (It reminds me a bit of that bit History of toys where Mrs. Potato’s head loses an eye under the sofa, but since it is removable and I don’t know, she can still see it).
Similar to Bluetooth, UWB technology allows devices of a certain range to talk to each other, but what sets it apart is its superior ability to identify exact locations and transmit data with minimal interference. It does this by transmitting data at a wider frequency than “narrowband” wireless technology, with the disadvantage that it suffers from a shorter overall range. Technology has it has been around for decades, but UWB chips have recently come out cheap and small enough for companies to justify filling smartphones and other consumer devices.
This year is becoming a big time for UWB with both Tile and apple apparently he would work on crawlers with UWB technology.