Tile on Monday announced that its location-tracking technology, which normally helps to find things like keys and wallets, will soon be integrated into the Bluetooth chips of major suppliers.
These include parts from Qualcomm, Toshiba, Silicon Labs, and Dialog Semiconductor, Tile said. Some shipping products will come from audio brands like Anker, Plantronics, Sol Republic, and Sennheiser -- the technology is already integrated into the Bose SoundSport Wireless and the Skullcandy Venue.
Tile is best known for its fobs and stick-on accessories, like the Pro and Mate. These already use Bluetooth, allowing people to ping lost objects with an iOS app, as well as Siri, Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. This normally only works within short range, but toggling a "Community Find" option taps other people running the Tile app to track distant items.
Regular integration into Bluetooth chips could mean that many phones, tablets, and headphones will be automatically be traceable by people who enable a Tile option.
Future Apple devices could theoretically offer the technology, although several products like the Apple Watch and AirPods already use proprietary W-series wireless chips.
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