thetileapp.com

Technology is a magical thing.  It has this rather useful tendency to take really complicated processes and simplify them… simplified to the point where it’s hardly a process at all.  Pretty soon we’re going to run out of processes to simplify.  Then what are we going to do with ourselves?

Netflix.  We’d do Netflix.

But one thing technology can’t exactly eliminate, is our inability to keep things where they should be – like our keys, our smartphones, and our brains.  That is something technology simply cannot do for us; however, this doesn’t mean technology can’t help us find those things we like to wander away from.

And this is where Tile comes in.

This connected gadget will help you find anything, and while it may look like nothing more than a tiny square, it’s capable of so much.

Stick it on your laptop, attach it to your keys, drop it in your bag, or fasten it to your car.  This little guy will follow your precious belongings anywhere they go – to another city, into the unknown depths of your laundry hamper, or straight into the hands of a passing thief.

Tile connects to your phone to provide you with step-by-step directions to any lost item, and this modern form of hunting and gathering can play out in a few ways.  Say you lose your keys.  All you have to do is pick up your phone and open the connected Tile app to track down your keys.  It’s no different than finding your way around a new town with the help of Google Maps.

But what if you lose your phone?  Simple.  Find a nearby Tile and double press it.  When you do this, your phone will ring (whether it’s on silent or not) until you’re able to find it.  This can also be reversed – you can ring your Tiles if need be.  And if this doesn’t work for some reason, you can always log into your Tile account from a laptop or another phone and track down your item that way.

Sometimes, though, things like to get really lost, and by really lost, we mean stolen and driven to another city.  And by driven to another city, we mean your car – or quite possibly a bike.  Since Tile operates through a Bluetooth connection, the gadget is limited by how far it can track an item (up to 100 feet).  So when something like this happens, you can log into your Tile account and mark your item as lost.  After you do this, every Tile will be on the lookout for your missing item – even Tiles that aren’t yours.  Once a Tile pairs with your item, you’ll receive a notification that will pinpoint the last location your item was detected.

So even though we can’t help but lose our belongings, the process of finding lost items doesn’t have to be nearly as exhausting or downright disappointing as it usually is.  Technology went ahead and fixed that for us.  You can purchase a Tile here for $25 or a pack of four for $70.