Can your smartphone help you find your lost property?

• Who is this post for?  Everyone
• What does it discuss?  Technology that tracks the location of your property
• How will you benefit? Peace of mind…or not as the video bears out!

We’ve looked at many recent articles and products talking about attaching small tracking products to anything from keys to bags to pets, and even children!

This video shows a test that whilst certainly not scientific in its approach, does highlight some of the issues we’ve encountered, namely:

• The smartphone’s connectivity, and thus ability to pinpoint a location with precision, varies wildly. Your phone’s ability to locate with precision is better if it’s on a Wi-Fi network than if using its telecom network.
• If you’re in a large venue that has a complex layout (like the BBC’s offices in the video), it’s debatable what the technology can add that your own eyes can’t.

On the more positive side, the length of battery in the tracking product is a huge plus. One of the problems with finding your smartphone, tablet or laptop is that if you don’t realise you’ve lost it within an hour or so, there is a good chance that its battery will have died meaning it will be impossible to track through apps such as Find My iPhone. A year is a monumental advance on the 4-6 hours you’re likely to get with most devices!