On track

A TRACKER TAG COULD TAKE AWAY HOLIDAY NIGHTMARES OF LOST LUGGAGE, OR MISLAID POSSESSIONS AT HOME OR IN YOUR HOTEL. AND ONCE ITEMS ARE TAGGED, YOUR PHONE WILL TELL YOU WHERE TO GO. WHAT A RELIEF

Words: CHRIS PARTRIDGE

THE CAB FOR the airport is waiting outside but you have mislaid the bag with your passport, travel documents, cards and trashy beach novel. For many, this could set off a panic, but the technophile just clicks on an app on their phone and an arrow on the screen points to the bag’s exact location behind the clock on the mantelpiece. That is the magic of a tracker tag, a small disc you can put in a bag or on a keyring or anything you don’t want to lose. And the same trick can make life a bit easier at the destination too, where locating your suitcase on the carousel can be made easy with a tracker tag. The tag can even locate your luggage remotely, signalling its location if the airline has lost it.

Tracker tags are discs roughly the size of

Apple Airtag and accessories come in multi-packs should you choose draughts pieces or cards the size of credit cards, designed to be attached to keyrings or slipped into wallets. Inside, a battery-powered circuit board has a Bluetooth module so it can be paired with a smartphone using a companion app. The radio link is encrypted so no-one else can communicate with the tag unless given permission by the owner. The tag works in two ways. It responds to the app so the phone can sense its location, or it can automatically beep when it loses the signal, alerting the user to the fact that the tag has been left behind. Some tags also feature a button that activates the Bluetooth link and prompts the phone to ring, so you can use the tag to find the phone (usually down the side of the sofa if my experience is anything to go by).

The latest tracker tags have an added feature that enables a nearby phone to locate them with almost preternatural accuracy. The technology is called ultrawideband (UWB) and uses a spread of high frequencies to send and receive billions of tiny pulses of information that can be used to identify and locate a tag very precisely up to about 30m away (though the signals do not penetrate walls very well). The latest phones and tags from Apple and Samsung feature UWB and the technology will become commonplace over the next few years, analysts believe.

The first popular tracker tag was the Tile, introduced a decade ago. Tile trackers come in various formats, including one for adding to a keyring, a flat version for a wallet and a small sticky unit for attaching to valuable gear.

The market really took off when Apple launched the AirTag, however. As usual with Apple products, pairing an AirTag with an iPhone is incredibly easy and they ‘just work’. The other selling point is that an AirTag can communicate with any nearby iPhone, which then reports its position on Apple’s FindMy service, enabling the owner to recover the lost items quickly. Tile has a similar service but other smartphones have to be running the Tile app for it to work, which limits the coverage of the service very considerably.

The ease with which AirTags can be tracked has led to serious safety concerns, however. Stalkers, ex-husbands and even rapists have slipped AirTags into their target’s pocket or bag, or attached it to their car, so they can follow them wherever they go. Apple has introduced a couple of features to combat this – the victim’s iPhone will alert them if an AirTag they are not connected to travels with them for a period of time, and AirTags that are separated from their owner’s phone but are still on the move will emit a powerful alarm after some hours. Apple will also pass the connected device’s number to the police if malice is suspected. Unfortunately, the system only works if the victim also has an iPhone (or runs Apple’s detector app on an Android phone), and the delays in activating the alarms may mean they come too late. So, vulnerable people, especially women, need to be vigilant.

Samsung has recently launched its own Galaxy SmartTag that works in the same way. The regular SmartTag has Bluetooth only and works with all Samsung phones, and the more expensive SmartTag Plus also has AWB but works only with the latest top-of-the-line Sammy smartphones. The smart tags have an interesting extra feature – they can be used to control Samsung’s SmartThings devices, so you can switch your Hue lights on by pressing the tag’s button.

Tracking tags

Chipolo Card Spot

A credit-card sized tag that fits neatly in a wallet. €39, amazon.de

Pros: Works with Apple Find My; no subscription necessary.

Cons: Battery not replaceable.

Apple Airtag

A disc that can be held in any one of a wide variety of holders making it very versatile. Location is accurate and Apple’s Find My network leverages the billions of iPhones around to make success very likely in finding your lost property. €39.64 from FNAC, plus the holder which is sold separately

Pros: Easy to use and precise, huge Find My network.

Cons: Needs a holder that can double the cost. Only works with recent iPhones.

Samsung Galaxy Smarttag And Smarttag Plus

All the features of the AirTag but cheaper. Works with Samsung phones only so finding lost property is much less reliable. €22.99 for the SmartTag, €44.94 for the SmartTag Plus, from Worten.

Pros: Replaceable battery, low cost, keyring hole so no need for holder. Can be used to operate Samsung SmartThings.

Cons: Only works with Samsung phones. Smart Tag Plus not really worth the extra cash.

Tile Mate

A compact, no frills tag at a low price, €29.99 amazon.es

Pros: 3-year battery life.

Cons: Battery not replaceable; some features need a subscription.

Warren Beatty

Virginia-born Warren Beatty was fascinated by the world of movies as a youngster and always wanted to write, produce and direct, as well as act! His Hollywood career has gained him 15 Oscar nominations, including four for Best Actor, plus a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. His first job was as a stage hand, followed by acting school in New York City. By the late ‘50s he had appeared on stage and TV but his first big break came in 1961 when his appearance alongside Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass won him his first Golden Globe nomination. More successes followed,including Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 in which he chose the other actors and oversaw the script as well as starring as gangster Clyde Barrow. Further hits like Shampoo in 1975 and Reds in 1981 followed. He continued to appear in films and on TV into the new century, including presenting the Oscars in 2017 and 2018. He was also well-known for his romantic liaisons and regularly featured in gossip columns, having, it is said, dated more than a hundred female celebrities. Leslie Caron turned down his proposal of marriage; Cher said: “He has dated everyone I know”; and Miriam Margolyes brushed him off by telling him she was gay. In 1992 he married actress Annette Bening and the couple have two children. He is known for his support for liberal causes and has won awards for his films all over the world.