Tile (company)
{{Short description|American consumer electronics company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Tile, Inc.
| logo = Tile Logo Since 2023.jpg
| company_type = Subsidiary
| industry = Consumer electronics
| founded = {{start date and age|2012|12}}
| creators = {{ubl|Mike Farley | Nick Evans}}
| location = San Mateo, California, United States
| products = Key finder devices
| parent = Life360
| website = {{URL|https://www.tile.com}}
| native_clients = iOS, Android
}}
Tile, Inc. (stylized as tile) is an American consumer electronics company which produces tracking devices that users can attach to their belongings such as keys and backpacks. A companion mobile app for Android and iOS allows users to track the devices using Bluetooth 4.0 in order to locate lost items or to view their last detected location. The first devices were delivered in 2013. In September 2015, Tile launched a newer line of hardware that includes functionality to assist users in locating smartphones, as well as other feature upgrades.{{cite web|title = The stuff-finding Tile now helps you find your phone|url = https://www.engadget.com/2015/08/19/tile-find-phone/|website = Engadget| date=August 19, 2015 |access-date = September 21, 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Martin|first1=Jim|title=Second-gen Tile review: the Bluetooth tracker that helps you find lost items|url=http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/review/digital-home/second-generation-tile-review-bluetooth-tag-3575574/|access-date=March 12, 2016|work=TechAdvisor|date=February 11, 2016}} In August 2017, two new versions of the Tile were launched, the Tile Sport and Tile Style.{{Cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/08/08/technology/tile-sport-style/index.html|title=This startup is cashing in on our forgetfulness|last=Yurieff|first=Kaya|date=8 August 2017|work=CNNMoney|access-date=14 December 2017}} {{As of |2019}}, Tile's hardware offerings consist of the Pro, Mate, Slim, and Sticker.{{cite web |url=https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/ |title=Find Your Keys, Wallet & Phone with Tile's App and Bluetooth Tracker Device {{!}} Tile |website=TheTileApp.com |access-date=2019-01-13}}
Since September 2018, former GoPro executive C. J. Prober has been the CEO of Tile after he replaced co-founder Mike Farley.{{cite news |title= Tile names GoPro vet CJ Prober new CEO, adds Comcast as investor and new product partner|first=Ingrid |last=Lunden |date=September 24, 2018 |work=Greenwich Time |url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/24/tile-names-gopro-vet-cj-prober-new-ceo-adds-comcast-as-investor-and-new-product-partner/}} In November 2021, Life360 agreed to acquire Tile in a $205 million acquisition, and is expected to integrate the two services.{{Cite web|last=Lawler|first=Richard|date=2021-11-22|title=Tile is selling its Bluetooth tracking business to Life360 for $205 million|url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/22/22797559/tile-bluetooth-tracker-location-gps-acquisition-life360|access-date=2021-12-07|website=The Verge|language=en}}
Function
File:Tile Sport - June 2018 (1959).jpg
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 application uses Bluetooth Low Energy 4.0 radio technology to locate Tiles within a {{convert|100|foot|abbr=off|sp=us}} range, depending on the model. Each Tile comes with a built-in speaker, and the user is able to trigger the device to play a sound to aid in the location of items at close range. The second generation of Tile devices produce sound at a volume of 90 decibels,{{Cite web|title = Updated Tile Item Tracker Boasts Louder Ring, Find Your Phone Feature|url = https://techcrunch.com/2015/08/20/new-version-of-tile-item-tracker-boasts-louder-ring-find-your-phone-feature/|website = TechCrunch|access-date = 2015-09-21|first = Lucas|last = Matney| date=August 20, 2015 }} which is three times as loud as the previous generation of products.{{cite news|last1=Tweney|first1=Dylan|title=How Tile went from crowdfunding to 2M units sold in two years|url=https://venturebeat.com/2015/08/18/how-tile-went-from-crowdfunding-to-2m-units-sold-in-two-years/|access-date=12 March 2016|work=VentureBeat|date=18 August 2015}} The second generation also added a "Find My Phone" feature, which can be used to produce a sound on the user's paired smartphone when the user presses a button on the Tile device.
The Tile app can locate Tiles beyond the {{convert|100|foot}} 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.{{cite news|date=April 1, 2015|work=Recode|url=http://recode.net/2015/04/01/trackr-vs-tile-the-lost-and-found-face-off/|title=TrackR vs. Tile: The Lost-and-Found Face-Off|author=Boehret, Katherine}} Users can also share their Tiles with others, which allows both participants to locate shared Tiles.{{cite news|last1=Perez|first1=Sarah|title=Tile Launches Sharing, Allowing Others To Help You Find Your Lost Items|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/03/31/tile-launches-sharing-allowing-others-to-help-you-find-your-lost-items/|access-date=12 March 2016|work=TechCrunch|date=31 March 2015}}
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.{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=Owen|title=Hardware As A Service: Tile Finds A Way To Keep Making Money|url=http://readwrite.com/2015/10/13/hardware-subscription-business-model|access-date=12 March 2016|work=ReadWrite|date=13 October 2015}} Users could then return Tiles with depleted batteries in order for them to be recycled.{{cite news|last1=Kolodny|first1=Lora|title=Tile Picks Up $13 Million to Make Any Object Trackable|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/10/01/tile-picks-up-13-million-to-make-any-object-trackable/|access-date=12 March 2016|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=1 October 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Perez|first1=Sarah|title=Lost-Item Tracker Tile Rolls Out A Renewal Service Offering Early Adopters Discounted Replacements|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/22/lost-item-tracker-tile-rolls-out-a-renewal-service/|access-date=12 March 2016|work=TechCrunch|date=22 July 2015}} In October 2018, the Tile Mate and Tile Pro were redesigned to have user-replaceable batteries.{{Cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/02/tile-mate-pro-replaceable-batteries/|title=Tile's new Bluetooth trackers come with replaceable batteries|website=Engadget|date=October 2, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2018-12-28}} These models have lower water-resistance ratings than models that require factory battery replacement.{{cite web |url=http://support.thetileapp.com/hc/en-us/articles/200547688-Is-my-Tile-dust-or-waterproof- |title=Is my Tile dust or waterproof? |website=support.thetileapp.com |access-date=2019-07-16 |archive-date=July 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717004234/https://support.thetileapp.com/hc/en-us/articles/200547688-Is-my-Tile-dust-or-waterproof- |url-status=dead }}
Funding
Tile's developers used Selfstarter, an open source website platform, to crowdfund the project through pre-orders.
Alexander Pascal Borner.
[https://books.google.com/books?id=_NIADAAAQBAJ "Crowdfunding - A Successful Way of New Venture Financing?"].
Section "4.2.1. Tile Smartphone Application".
2016.
As of July 7, 2013, Tile had raised over {{US$|2.6{{nbsp}}million|link=yes}} by selling preordered Tiles directly to 50,000 backers through their website.{{cite web|title=Tile Grabs $2.6M Via Selfstarter For Its Lost Property-Finding Bluetooth Tags Plus App|author=Natasha Lomas|date=July 24, 2013 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/07/24/tile-grabs-2-6m-via-selfstarter-for-its-lost-property-finding-bluetooth-tags-plus-app/|publisher=TechCrunch|access-date=May 11, 2014}}
In 2014, Tile raised additional Series A funding of US$13 million led by GGV Capital and a further US$3 million from Khosla Ventures in 2015.{{Cite news|url=https://venturebeat.com/2014/10/01/embargo-101-9am-tile/|title=Tile has $13M and dreams of helping Android users find their keys, too|date=2014-10-01|work=VentureBeat|access-date=2018-04-05|language=en-US}}{{cite web|title = Tile snags $3 million from Khosla Ventures to build a crowdsourced lost-and-found network|url = http://fortune.com/2015/06/09/tile-khosla/|website = Fortune|access-date = September 21, 2015}}
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.{{Cite web|title=Tile files EU complaint against Apple's alleged anticompetitive behavior|url=https://www.engadget.com/tile-apple-european-commission-antitrust-143303005.html|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Engadget|date=May 29, 2020 |language=en}} In September 2020, Tile joined the Coalition for App Fairness which aims to reach better conditions for the inclusion of apps into app stores.{{Cite web|title=App makers band together to fight for App Store changes with new 'Coalition for App Fairness'|url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/24/app-makers-band-together-to-fight-for-app-store-changes-with-new-coalition-for-app-fairness/|access-date=2020-09-26|website=TechCrunch|date=September 24, 2020|language=en-US|archive-date=March 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322200556/http://techcrunch.com/2020/09/24/app-makers-band-together-to-fight-for-app-store-changes-with-new-coalition-for-app-fairness/|url-status=live}}
Hacking incident
In 2024 a computer hacker acquired the credentials of a suspected former Tile employee and gained access to the company's internal tool that processes location data for law enforcement, as well as customer data such as names, addresses, emails, telephone numbers, and order information. Other functions that were compromised include changing the email address linked to a particular device and creating administrative users. Tile said only its customer support platform, not the service platform, was breached and it has disabled credentials to prevent further unauthorized access.{{Cite web |last=Cox · |first=Joseph |date=2024-06-12 |title=Hacker Accesses Internal 'Tile' Tool That Provides Location Data to Cops |url=https://www.404media.co/hacker-accesses-internal-tile-tool-that-provides-location-data-to-cops/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=404 Media |language=en}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
| last = Perez
| first = Sarah
| title = Lost-Item Tracker Tile Arrives On Android
| url = https://techcrunch.com/2014/12/17/lost-item-tracker-tile-arrives-on-android/
| work = TechCrunch
| date = December 17, 2014
| access-date = December 28, 2014
}}
| last = Thornberg
| first = Molly
| title = Never Lose a Thing Again with the Tile App
| url = http://www.babble.com/tech/never-lose-a-thing-again-with-the-tile-app/
| work = Babble
| date = July 20, 2013
| access-date = July 22, 2013
}}
| last = Stampler
| first = Laura
| title = Here's The First Ad For A Small Device That Will Never Let You Lose Your Keys Again
| url = http://www.businessinsider.com/first-ad-for-tile-app-that-finds-lost-keys-2013-7
| publisher = Business Insider
| date = July 16, 2013
| access-date = August 7, 2013
}}
| last = Pasolini
| first = Antonio
| title = Tile tracks objects with help from app users
| url = http://www.gizmag.com/tile-object-tracker/27996/
| publisher = Gizmag
| date = June 25, 2013
| access-date = August 7, 2013
}}
| last = VanHemert
| first = Kyle
| title = Tile Might Be a Revolutionary Gizmo For Finding Lost Keys and Stolen Purses
| url = https://www.wired.com/design/2013/08/tile-a-better-way-to-find-your-lost-keys-and-maybe-your-stolen-bike-too/
| work = Wired
| date = August 1, 2013
| access-date = August 7, 2013
}}
}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{Official website}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Android (operating system) devices
Category:Android (operating system) software
Category:Internet object tracking
Category:Companies based in San Mateo, California