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Keep tabs on your stuff for less with nearly 50% off Tile trackers for Cyber Monday
Get select Tile products for nearly half price - but deals end today!
Find yourself constantly forgetting where you put the phone or keys? Well, keeping track of things just got cheaper with Tile's latest Cyber Monday deals. With nearly 50% off select products, you can locate anything from expensive tech to beloved pets without breaking the bank.
Is the Samsung SmartTag 2 battery replaceable?
With just a little finessing, you’ll have your SmartTag 2 battery replaced in no time
The Samsung SmartTag 2 offers a new generation of GPS tracking for the valuables we tend to lose the most. On top of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ultra wide-band (UWB) support for real-time location tracking with pinpoint accuracy, the SmartTag 2 is powered by a CR2032 battery. Those are the small circular cells we always mistake as loose change when we come across them in our junk drawers.
Eufy's new tracker is like a cheaper AirTag that works with Android
But you'll still need an iPhone for the best experience
Tracking tags are all the rage these days, and aside from Tile, the biggest name in the game remains Apple's AirTags. It relies on a network of nearby Apple devices to relay its location through the Find My network. Although Samsung offers something similar, in the US, nothing is capable of besting Apple's game — AirTags are stronger than ever as people continue to buy more Apple gear. Thankfully, Eufy just made its own Find My-compatible tag, and for a change, this one actually works on Android phones too.
Tile's 'solution' to Bluetooth tracker tag privacy is apparently expensive stickers you can't even actually track
Better just hope whoever finds your stuff is honest
Tracker tags can be a great way to keep tabs on your favorite gadgets and accessories, but as we saw with their rise in popularity following Apple's launch of its own AirTags, the ability to easily track tiny tags opens up a whole hornet's nest of potential privacy issues — nobody wants a stranger tracking them without their knowledge. While most solutions to this have attempted to give users the ability to detect the presence of unknown tags, Tile has come up with an interesting alternative that basically replaces trackers with QR-code-based “this belongs to me” labels.
Don't give away your email address on the internet willy-nilly, especially if you live in the US
Latest research finds lots of previously unidentified trackers that even pick up on passwords
If you participate in society to any extent, you've got data out there and it's more than what you think you've put out there. On the web, it's no different and no settings toggle will help you bring it all back. Some sites like to haunt users who initiate but don't finish signing up for a membership by catching the email address they put in —maybe even the password, too — and then send them reminders or other spammier messages. They suck, but they're a fact of life and, according to a new whitepaper, moreso in the U.S. than Europe.
More states take a stand against AirTag stalking with new legislation
New bills in Ohio and New Jersey aim to criminalize remote tracking without consent
Apple AirTags have been getting quite a bit of publicity since the release just over a year ago, and most of it has been for the wrong reasons. Reports from around the US and Canada have shown that the low-cost tracking device has been used for stalking, surveillance, and even in a strategy to steal cars. Now at least three states are moving to explicitly criminalize the use of remote trackers for malicious purposes.
Google is working to add native Bluetooth tracker tag scanning to Android
Letting you know if any unfamiliar tags are following you
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The release of AirTags last year popularized Bluetooth trackers, but while Apple isn't the first company to release such a product, its ability to leverage its vast Find My network gives it a considerable edge over competitors. AirTags are able to communicate with nearby iPhones to report their location back to their owners, creating a gigantic network that makes them surprisingly accurate, especially in countries where Apple has a big user base. Android doesn't yet have system-level tracker support, but some new evidence suggests we might at least get barebones native scanning functionality soon.
Tile follows Apple in adding anti-stalking feature to protect you from being tracked
Maybe don't be creepy with trackers, creeps
People love object-tracking tags for their practicality, and when Apple introduced its own last year, tag popularity soared. Along with more universal adoption, however, came the inevitable onslaught of stories about people using tags for the wrong things — namely for covertly tracking (ie, stalking) other people. This created a need to defend against unwanted tag tracking, which Apple addressed earlier this year by introducing a warning to users that tracking another person could be a crime. Now Tile is following suit.
Tile teases super-precise Apple AirTag competitor as it launches next-gen Bluetooth trackers
Longtime tracker manufacturer behind in making UWB tags
Tile, a longtime maker of consumer-grade Bluetooth tracking tags, is pushing updates to its product line, improving the reception, chirpers, and designs for its 2022 Sticker, Mate, Slim, and Pro. It's also teasing a new tracker with extreme accuracy thanks to ultra-wideband radios.
Unlike Apple and Samsung, T-Mobile's tracker gadget doesn't need a nearby phone to find your stuff
But you will have to pay for it every month, and charge it up every week
"Mom, can I have an Apple AirTag?" "No, we have an AirTag at home!"
LastPass analytics code raises questions about potential security issues
In case you needed yet another reason to switch
LastPass recently caused an uproar by announcing forthcoming changes to its pricing model that will effectively nerf the free tier, and now the company is in for some more bad news. According to a report published by German cybersecurity researcher Mike Kuketz (via The Register), the password manager uses seven third-party trackers that introduce potential security issues, prompting him to recommend LastPass users to switch to competitors.
Xiaomi Mi Band 5 is official, comes with a bigger screen and more convenient charging
One of the most affordable fitness trackers receives thoughtful enhancements
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Xiaomi managed to impress everybody with its low-cost $30 Mi Band 4 that easily kept up with much costlier products from Fitbit, Garmin, and Co. (as long as you're not a swimmer, that is). Exactly a year after its introduction, the company has released a follow-up in the form of the Mi Band 5, packing a slightly bigger screen, a much-improved charger, more tracking capabilities, and a ton of new animated watchfaces.
Google Fit is something Google has been working diligently on since before its announcement at Google I/O. The service itself doesn't seem to be very well-rounded yet, but with a preview SDK available to developers for a few months and an app in the works, it seems like things are headed in the right direction.
The Chromium Issue Tracker, a perennial source of accidental "leaks" and unreleased information, has delivered something interesting (the issue appears to have since been removed). Reddit user Doopl came across two screenshots of what look like Android's yet-unannounced L release.
[CES 2014] LG Introduces The Lifeband Touch, A Fitness Tracker With A Side Order Of Notifications [Update: Price Info]
[CES 2014] LG Introduces The Lifeband Touch, A Fitness Tracker With A Side Order Of Notifications [Update: Price Info]
Here's a fun way to pass the time while you're catching up on CES news at home: take a drink of your favorite spirit every time you see the word "wearable." Now say goodbye to your liver. Korean manufacturer LG has decided to enter both the smartwatch and fitness tracker markets at once with the Lifeband Touch, a watch-style Bluetooth device with an OLED screen.
Ever since Nike introduced its FuelBand wearable fitness tracker last year, there's been a rather loud and unsatisfied cry from users of the biggest mobile operating system on the planet: "Where the hell is the Android version?" Even while competitors like Fitbit Jawbone's UP have embraced Android, Nike FuelBand has remained an iOS exclusive, and Nike has made a point of explicitly stating that there's no Android version of the app in development. A new interview from Pocket-lint sheds some light on why.
If you're intrigued by the idea of wearable technology, but don't see the Pebble's appeal, or don't have the patience to wait for Google Glass or any of the other rumored wearable goodies coming from Apple, Samsung, or Google (depending on who you ask), Motorola's MOTOACTV, the fitness-tracking smartwatch, may be a good starting point.
Amiigo Fitness Bracelet For Android Tracks Your Workout Automatically, Lets You Tell Your Friends How Much You Lift
Amiigo Fitness Bracelet For Android Tracks Your Workout Automatically, Lets You Tell Your Friends How Much You Lift
One of the neatest things that the mobile revolution has brought about is an increase in intelligent fitness apps and accessories. Everything from belt clips that can tell how far you've run to zombie-augmented 5K training. The Amiigo bracelet and shoe clip combo may be one of the coolest projects, though. The company behind it promises that, between the two pieces, the system can track any workout you do. If it performs as advertised, this could be amazing.
You've gotta hand it to the folks in Mountain View. When NORAD decides to pass Google over for Santa tracking data, the company isn't one to sit on its hands and let someone else handle Christmas. This isn't the first year that the data giant has kept you up to date on the comings and goings of everyone's favorite fat bearded man in a red suit, but this Santa tracker may just be the best yet.