Evan Cohen, Indiegogo‘s Community Manager for Hardware, Design and Technology, promises to never lose his keys again…
It’s one of the worst feelings in the world. That empty feeling in your pocket as the Lyft pulls up to your front door.
Frantically, you check your jacket pockets. Empty.
Then your pants pockets. Empty.
You even scope the floor and seats of the car.
Nothing.
And just as the car comes to a complete stop, the inevitable question finally hits –– where are my keys?!
It happened to me last night while I was on the way back from yet another memorable Super Bowl party. We pulled up to my apartment, the Lyft driver and I, just in time for me to realize that my keys were long gone. Fortunately, I had my phone and wallet, but the locked front door that exists to protect my belongings was now the only thing separating me from them.
Thousands of people lose their keys every year. This summer, the Wall Street Journal reported that the average person loses nine items a day. We’re a forgetful species, and the more devices and items we collect, the higher probability we have to lose them.
Last night’s situation would be a dire one for 90% of Americans. I feel once you’re separated more than 30 feet from your keys in a public place, the chances of finding them are slim to none.
Lucky for me, I had a solution.
Whipping out my phone, I was able to activate my handy Trackr, a Bluetooth GPS tracker about the size of a quarter conveniently attached to my keychain. After only a few swipes on the Trackr app, I was able to pull up within a few feet the exact location of my keys.
That’s when the the most amazing realization occurred: I had left my keys at Two Door Tavern, the brunch restaurant I ate at almost 12 hours earlier!
I was astonished. Without my Trackr, the probability of my discovering the lost keys at Two Door Tavern would’ve been at about 1%. With it, I was able to find them in less than one minute of searching. God bless IoT.
The relief I felt validated my growing appreciation for the tracker industry. It makes perfect sense why these devices, along with other GPS enabled ones, were one of the hottest Indiegogo trends we saw in tech last year. In 2014 alone, we’ve seen over $2 million raised in tracking devices alone, with TrackR Bravo, Pod, Findster, TinTag and Duet paving the way.
This year should be no different, as both Bluetooth and GPS technology are poised to take an even larger leap into our daily lives. At CES in January, I spoke with several awesome startups entering the space with new and exciting products. Trackers for children, pets, drones, computers, bikes, cars and even the elderly. In a world where the average person spends around fifteen minutes a day searching for lost items, these devices can be truly life changing.
Indiegogo is paving the way for these devices to come to market, and we know the best is yet to come. In the meantime, I’ll be heading down the street to Two Door Tavern to pick up my keys.
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Evan Cohen joined Indiegogo to help educate and empower the growing maker community on the east coast of the United States. He works out of the Indiegogo New York office, where he regularly engages in community events to help local technologists connect with the Indiegogo platform.
Tracking objects is a great idea but I’ve tried two products and they suck. The Track’r arrived a while back along with a bag of 10. Of the 10, 3 never linked to the phone at all. On the others they would report for a few days and then go dead. The app would freeze, slow the phone down doing something and then require a hard boot of the phone. I could revive a dead tracker by pulling the battery, removing it from the app, unpairing the Bluetooth and starting over but that only got it working for a day or two. Fresh batteries didn’t help. Once a tag died I checked the battery and it was fine, so it’s not eating the batteries. Basically the product is crap and I’m sorry I wasted my money on it.
I also supported the iTraq which I wanted to use for things like suitcases and equipment bags that i have to ship. I received three tags. One worked right away and was fine for 48 hours. After that it went silent and I think it’s because it may be in a shipping container which would block the signal. Fine, and I’ll find out in a day or two if the location reports again. The worst part is that the battery life appears to be dismal (you may have to charge it every week or two if it only reports 6 times per day). Of the three, two of the tags are just dead and don’t report at all. The tech support site doesn’t offer much help – *if* you can even log in – and the pricing has changed. The original offer was 3 years of battery life and no fees. Now it’s $100 per year and the battery has to be charged pretty often. It’s expensive and somewhat useless. Again, a great idea but a terrible execution.
I’m considering looking at the Tile for tracking small local things but these other two are trash.
Tracking devices are a great innovation, their size and functionalities makes them very suitable for safeguarding valuables. An innovative device called Ikon is specifically designed with features that serve the African market. Check them out: https://www.ikontracker.com
I really love the explanation of the functioning of bleutooth / GPS trackers in your article, but if anyone wants to become credible as a person and a company, I would suggest to all of them to start DELIVERING what you promisse, or be very clear WHEN you will be able to deliver. It is a real bad thing for Indigogo that so little monitoring on the delivery of prommissed items is done. This will backfire on all the campaigns at some point!!!
Like others below this appears to be a complete scam. I paid for mine as part of the original campaign and still have nothing. Repeat vague responses through support and no actual progress.
Here you guys go Itraq has the worlds first and only Cell-ID tracking device! Works off cellular towers so you can track anything anywhere in the world that has cell service! Best attacking device by far!! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-FzQMHD42dY#
I haven’t bought this product, but I did buy another one, that broke. As soon as I got Indiegogo involved, they took it very seriously, and I had a reply from the original company within 24 hours. Has anyone reported it to Indiegogo??
This guy is full of crap.. Bluetooth only works within 75-100 feet.. So Evan Cohan couldn’t just whip out his tracker and his app tells him wheres it at, it wouldn’t work and neither would any other Bluetooth tracker lol.. This add is nothing more to pump this product.. This product is great sure if you lose your keys at your house but not in a real life situation.. This article is false.. The best technology is Cell-ID using cellular triangulation… iTraq Tag works any where in the world that has cellular service and has a 3 yr battery life.. This article is bias and Evan needs to do some DD
I was one of the original backers for their Indiegogo campaign, and I would just like to at least see one of my trackers!. I’m still waiting for delivery……..Maybe like others have blogged, it’s a scam! Probably a Ponzi where you need new backers to fund the original backers, in the end the last adopters will just be ripped completely off.
Guys, all bluetooth devices are great if you need to find something small in your house. TrackR or similar devices won’t help you if you need to find your child, your bike, your luggage, etc. Take a look at iTraq Tag – this device can stay long on a battery and can find your valuables globally.
Well I can see from the comments that this is a scam, I was going to say who needs this garbage just get a keypad entry on your door or how about don’t lose your shit. I always know where my shit is I don’t need more invasive GPS craps to put my privacy at risk. Glad this was a scam
Overwhelmingly bad experiences here in the comments – I am calling on Indiegogo to respond. Is there no leverage this crowdfunding company has with its customers?
Thanks to everyone for posting. Like this idea a lot, but will look at other companies now. Maybe find a retailer nearby and support a small business in person. What a concept!
I ordered and paid for 10 Trackr’s well over two years ago and still have not received them they are thieves this is a scam do not buy these!
I’d be really stoked too, if I had my damn Trackers, paid for & still not delivered? #HowILostMy$
glad I read these reviews first. not participating in scams
Ordered and paid for my trackers in April and have not received them. I’m beginning to think this is a scam.
Why are you pushing a product that had a Xmas 2014 delivery date that has kept many waiting and is long overdue?? They keep selling, selling on a product they Can’t deliver. Cut the crap, deliver what you sell and stop the BS updates that say and show nothing more than a mail cart.. Where are all the reviews for the trackers you say you’ve shipped?? I would guess ZERO=ZERO!!
Lots of marketing and advertisements for sales, postings about product packaging, etc., but for those of us who contributed to TrackR early in the Indiegogo campaign we’d just like our product. Finally received an email stating mine would be mailed in late July – we’ll see! No more participation in such campaigns, based on this badly managed initiative.
How about delivering the product I ordered – as opposed to more hype!
What is the range for the tracker?
Where is my Tracker?
Mary H. McGuirt
609 West Church St. Bishopville S.C.
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