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Tile follows Apple’s lead with enhanced anti-theft and stalking features, new $1M penalty

Tile is out with a new feature for its item trackers that hopes to reduce trouble with both theft and stalking. The company is calling the new feature Anti-Theft Mode and there are several components to it including an unscannable mode, a new $1 million penalty for misuse, ID verification, and more. The changes follow similar ones made by Apple last year. Here’s how the approaches compare.

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AirTag stalking controversy leads Tile to add its own anti-stalking feature

AirTag stalking controversy leads Tile to add its own anti-stalking feature

The AirTag stalking controversy, which forced Apple to beef up the protections offered against misuse of the tracking device, has led Tile to follow the Cupertino company’s example.

Tile has announced a Scan and Secure feature, which allows anyone to check for the presence of its own trackers – though in a clunkier fashion than Apple’s safeguards …

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AirTag stalking concerns continue; university study underway to measure the problem

Apple releases new firmware update for AirTag item tracker

AirTag stalking concerns continue to be voiced, despite the fact that Apple’s tracker is the least suitable one on the market for anyone with malicious intent.

One campaign group is calling for all companies making Bluetooth trackers to cooperate in the development of new safety measures, and a university is conducting a study designed to assess the scale of the problem …

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Tile owner ‘Life360’ reportedly sells location data of its users to ‘virtually anyone’

Last month, the popular tracking device company Tile announced that it was about to be acquired by another company called Life360 – which also offers tracking services. Now a report from the Markup has revealed that Life360 is selling the location data of its 33 million users to “virtually anyone who wants to buy it.”

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Apple antitrust hearing: Tile likens Find My network to a ‘hostage’ program, App Store scam apps, more

App Store

The latest antitrust hearing looking into concerns about Apple and Google’s market power is underway. Along with the companies getting a grilling from the Congressional subcommittee on antitrust, representatives from Spotify, Tile, and more are testifying about how they see the two tech giants as stifling competition.

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Tile spooked by AirTags competition, calls on Congress to investigate potential antitrust concerns

Tile will testify against Apple

Tile and Apple have been duking it out over the last few years over what the former calls unfair competition. Tile is also one of the founding members of the Coalition for App Fairness that’s been litigating against Apple. Now after Apple officially debuted its new AirTag item tracker, Tile’s CEO says he would like to see Congress launch an investigation into Apple bringing AirTags to market.

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Tile could beat Apple’s AirTags to market with new ultra wideband item trackers

New Tile tracker UWB

Apple’s AirTags personal item trackers have been the works for what feels like a long time (first discovered by 9to5Mac in April 2019). Dating back to September 2019, Tile seemed concerned about the upcoming product. Now news has leaked that Tile is working on a version of its popular tracker with ultra wideband (UWB) instead of just Bluetooth. Maybe it could even beat Apple’s AirTags to market?

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Epic, Spotify, Tile and more form Coalition for App Fairness

Coalition for App Fairness

A number of big developers who object to Apple’s App Store policies have jointly formed the Coalition for App Fairness, a non-profit intended to coordinate efforts to do battle with Apple. Founding members include Epic Games, Spotify and Tile, each of which is involved in high-profile disputes with the iPhone maker.

It will add to the antitrust pressure faced by Apple as the coalition accuses the Cupertino company of ‘taxing consumers’ and ‘crushing innovation’ …

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Antitrust hearing to accuse Apple and others of ‘copy acquire kill’ strategy

Tech giants to be accused of copy acquire kill strategy

Two reports this morning suggest that tomorrow’s congressional antitrust hearing will accuse Apple and other tech giants of having a ‘copy acquire kill’ strategy when it comes to dealing with potential competitors.

The term refers to copying what other companies are doing; acquiring companies as a way of gaining exclusive access to features; and killing apps after acquisition in order to deny them to customers on rival platforms …


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Tile says Apple breaking promises, that anticompetitive behavior is worse

Apple breaking promises says Tile

Tile has made an accusation of Apple breaking promises to work toward resolving the dispute between the two companies, and says that indeed things are even worse than they were.

The dispute centers around Apple’s apparent intention to launch AirTags, which will directly compete with Tile trackers — small devices attached to gadgets and other valuables to track their location …


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[Update: Apple responds] Tile goes to Congress to battle Apple before AirTags competitor even gets unveiled

Smart Alerts coming to Tile trackers

We learned just this morning that Tile would be testifying to Congress over antitrust concerns aimed at Apple along with Google and Amazon. Now that opening statements have been made in today’s hearing, we’ve learned specifics about Tile’s concerns when it comes to the Find My app, Apple’s yet to be announced AirTag product, and access to the iPhone’s hardware.


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Tile matches expected feature of Apple’s ‘AirTags’ item trackers, Smart Alerts

Smart Alerts coming to Tile trackers

Smart Alerts when you leave something behind in a public place are Tile’s latest attempt to stay ahead of Apple’s anticipated launch of its own item tracker, which may be named AirTag.

We exclusively reported back in April that Apple is working on its own competitor to Tile, integrating with the iOS Find My app. One of the expected features is automatic alerts when you leave behind a protected item, and that’s something Tile is now adding to its own products…


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New Tile partnerships will allow you to find your lost Bose headphones, Samsonite suitcases & more [Video]

Attaching Tile trackers to your valuables is one way to help you find them if they are misplaced, but it’s a slightly clunky way of doing it. That’s all set to change, though, as the company partners with a number of brands to build its Bluetooth tracking technology into their products.

One of the first partnerships announced is with Bose, whose 2018 SoundSport Wireless and QuietControl 30 headphones will come with Tile on board from late spring …


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Quick Look: Tile Slim – a thinner version of the handy Bluetooth tracker [Video]

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If you often find yourself misplacing your wallet or other valuable items around the house, then the Tile Slim ($29.99) may be worth your consideration. The Tile Slim, like the original Tile, is a Bluetooth tracker that allows you to quickly home in on items within your general vicinity.

The Tile Slim’s thinner form factor makes it much more practical for tight spaces such as wallets or portfolios. Check out our brief hands-on video inside to see how it compares to the original Tile.
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Tile: Track and find lost items via crowd-sourced iPhone app

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/68719955 w=600&h=338]

I lose things all the time. My keys, wallet, and even my bike somehow find a way to escape my possession at least once or twice a week. Worse, there’s never a great solution to help me find the things I’m looking for. There’s no ‘Find My iPhone’ for a wallet, so whenever it goes missing, I’ll have to sift through my couch cushions or even call up one of my friends to see if I’ve left it at their house.

It’s not really a great solution, and it doesn’t always yield favorable results (like actually finding the item I’m looking for), but it’s the only good way I know how to find something I’ve lost. Recently (yes, recently), I lost my wallet again and I thought to myself that with an app for almost anything nowadays there must be a better way to find things I misplace.

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Then I stumbled across Tile. Tile let’s you track items you often misplace using a slim, attachable tracking device and app for iOS. The neat part about Tile is that the iPhone app works via crowd-sourcing. If you lose your bike, for example, and another Tile user happens to be in the area of the Tile on your bike, you will be alerted. Read the press release below for more information:


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