Tile (company)
Type of business | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Founded | December 2012 |
Headquarters | San Mateo, California, United States |
Created by |
|
Industry | Consumer electronics |
Products | Key finder devices |
Parent | Life360 |
URL | www |
Native client(s) on | iOS, Android |
Tile (stylized as tile) is an American
Since September 2018, former GoPro executive CJ Prober has been the CEO of Tile after he replaced co-founder Mike Farley.[6] In November 2021, Life360 agreed to acquire Tile in a $205 million acquisition, and is expected to integrate the two services.[7]
Function
Tile manufactures hardware devices, "Tiles", that can be attached to items such as keychains. By attaching the device, a user can later use the Tile app to help locate the item if it is lost.
The Tile app can locate Tiles beyond the 100 foot (30 m) Bluetooth range by using "crowd GPS". If a Tile device is reported as lost and comes within range of any smartphone running the Tile app, the nearby user's app will send the item's owner an anonymous update of the lost item's location.[9][12][13][14] Users can also share their Tiles with others, which allows both participants to locate shared Tiles.[15]
Tile's first generation products have built-in batteries with a battery life of about one year. Owners of these devices were automatically notified when the batteries were nearing depletion and were eligible to receive a discount on a replacement product.[16] Users could then return Tiles with depleted batteries in order for them to be recycled.[17][18] In October 2018, the Tile Mate and Tile Pro were redesigned to have user-replaceable batteries.[19] These models have lower water-resistance ratings than models that require factory battery replacement.[20]
Funding
Tile's developers used Selfstarter, an open source website platform, to crowdfund the project through pre-orders.[21]
As of July 7, 2013, Tile had raised over US$2.6 million by selling preordered Tiles directly to 50,000 backers through their website.[22]
In 2014, Tile raised additional
Dispute with Apple
In May 2020, Tile sought assistance from the European Union in a dispute it had with Apple regarding the provision of its services on Apple devices. It claimed that its app was not activated on Apple devices while the Find My service provided by Apple is activated automatically. Apple denied the allegation.[25] In September 2020, Tile joined the Coalition for App Fairness which aims to reach better conditions for the inclusion of apps into app stores.[26]
See also
References
- TechCrunch. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
- ^ "The stuff-finding Tile now helps you find your phone". Engadget. August 19, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
- ^ Martin, Jim (February 11, 2016). "Second-gen Tile review: the Bluetooth tracker that helps you find lost items". TechAdvisor. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- CNNMoney. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ^ "Find Your Keys, Wallet & Phone with Tile's App and Bluetooth Tracker Device | Tile". TheTileApp.com. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
- ^ Lunden, Ingrid (September 24, 2018). "Tile names GoPro vet CJ Prober new CEO, adds Comcast as investor and new product partner". Greenwich Time.
- ^ Lawler, Richard (November 22, 2021). "Tile is selling its Bluetooth tracking business to Life360 for $205 million". The Verge. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- ^ Thornberg, Molly (July 20, 2013). "Never Lose a Thing Again with the Tile App". Babble. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
- ^ a b Pasolini, Antonio (June 25, 2013). "Tile tracks objects with help from app users". Gizmag. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ a b Matney, Lucas (August 20, 2015). "Updated Tile Item Tracker Boasts Louder Ring, Find Your Phone Feature". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
- ^ Tweney, Dylan (August 18, 2015). "How Tile went from crowdfunding to 2M units sold in two years". VentureBeat. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ Boehret, Katherine (April 1, 2015). "TrackR vs. Tile: The Lost-and-Found Face-Off". Recode.
- ^ Stampler, Laura (July 16, 2013). "Here's The First Ad For A Small Device That Will Never Let You Lose Your Keys Again". Business Insider. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- Wired. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ Perez, Sarah (March 31, 2015). "Tile Launches Sharing, Allowing Others To Help You Find Your Lost Items". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ Thomas, Owen (October 13, 2015). "Hardware As A Service: Tile Finds A Way To Keep Making Money". ReadWrite. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ Kolodny, Lora (October 1, 2014). "Tile Picks Up $13 Million to Make Any Object Trackable". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ Perez, Sarah (July 22, 2015). "Lost-Item Tracker Tile Rolls Out A Renewal Service Offering Early Adopters Discounted Replacements". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ "Tile's new Bluetooth trackers come with replaceable batteries". Engadget. October 2, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
- ^ "Is my Tile dust or waterproof?". support.thetileapp.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- ^ Alexander Pascal Borner. "Crowdfunding - A Successful Way of New Venture Financing?". Section "4.2.1. Tile Smartphone Application". 2016.
- ^ Natasha Lomas (July 24, 2013). "Tile Grabs $2.6M Via Selfstarter For Its Lost Property-Finding Bluetooth Tags Plus App". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
- ^ "Tile has $13M and dreams of helping Android users find their keys, too". VentureBeat. October 1, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- ^ "Tile snags $3 million from Khosla Ventures to build a crowdsourced lost-and-found network". Fortune. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
- ^ "Tile files EU complaint against Apple's alleged anticompetitive behavior". Engadget. May 29, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ "App makers band together to fight for App Store changes with new 'Coalition for App Fairness'". TechCrunch. September 24, 2020. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2020.