The TrackR Blog

Since we announced our Crowd GPS technology in March 2013, people have wondered if it was feasible to use other phones to help recover lost items. People wondered if we would ever ship enough devices to reach critical mass so that Crowd GPS would be effective.  To answer these questions, we have published a Crowd GPS coverage map on our website.

Our team has believed since day 1 that we could create an alternative network to normal GPS that would be more power efficient, lower cost, and result in smaller device sizes.  Looking at the map, it's apparent to us that we are on our way to achieve this mission and that our technology has the capability to revolutionize the GPS industry.  We've heard user stories of recovering everything from lost keys to lost pets to stolen bikes (like we showed in this video)

More to come.

-Chris

There's a lot of different item trackers on the market that all seem to claim various things. We broke it down for everyone with a simple comparison chat on what item finder is the best item tracker out there.

As an engineer, when I approach a problem I begin with writing a specification and then I create a plan to achieve that specification. When we created the first item tracking device, phone halo, in 2009, we began with a complete list of features and software capabilities. The specification gave a complete list of required functionality that needed to be achieved.  Our team put together a plan and created the product as specified by the document in just 3 months (we also worked every day for 15 hours each day).  

However, we realized too late that we forgot to specify design requirements. So we created an ugly black box that did magical things. The app worked beautifully but looked like it was built in the early 80's. The thing was ugly and it effected user adoption dramatically because people do judge a book by its cover and our cover was ugly.

With our upcoming product, TrackR bravo, we took this learning from the past and focused on building something that looks and feels truly amazing. One of the big reasons we were able to achieve this is because we had already implemented much of the technology in previous versions of the product and had implemented thousands of little improvements reported to us by customers.

With the core technology in place, our team was able to focus on a single problem, how can we make it smaller. It's our #1 customer request is to make our devices smaller. We began to look into the pcb size, component heights, and battery size. We then realized that the biggest opportunity for size reduction was in the material.

In order to achieve structural integrity of our device, the plastic needs to be a certain thickness. However, if you replace the plastic with metal, the "wall thickness" of the device can be dramatically reduced. 

So why doesn't everyone just do this? It seems pretty obvious however metal prevents wireless signals from escaping. By working with our manufacturer, rf engineers, design team, we were able to apply techniques to get around this barrier and achieve the specified range of 100ft with our devices while having a metal device.

I'm extremely proud of our dedicated team and a big thanks goes out to all of our customers who left reviews, pinged us on twitter, wrote on our facebook wall, and sent us emails. Without you feedback and support, this wouldn't be possible.

-Chris, CEO of TrackR

Hi Everyone,

We would like to advise all current TrackR android users to upgrade to Android 4.4.3 as soon as possible.  We have tested across the Nexus 7, Nexus 5, and HTC One m7 & in all phones, we have seen major improvements in the Bluetooth performance with TrackR devices and the TrackR app.

Make sure to go to your phone settings and download the update and please try out the TrackR app.  In order to see improvements, you may need to power cycle Bluetooth.

Many people on Indiegogo search for successful projects, such as StickR TrackR, when planning to launch their new crowdfunding campaign. And one of the most common questions I get asked is - what happens after the campaign? How does someone go about actually getting their hardware project made and shipped to the (hopefully) thousands of backers?

Manufacturing, in the end, really isn't that difficult...if you have the right partner. Our team has been lucky in a way because manufacturing has always seemed easy to us and I realize this is because we have an amazing manufacturing partner. Many startups look at finding a manufacturer the same way someone might shop for a computer. They primarily search online and make their decision off of how "good" a manufacturer's website looks. But making a good website and making a good product have nothing to do with each other.  

Finding a manufacturing partner is like finding a spouse. The best way to start a relationship is through an introduction and begin building a foundation of trust. It's that simple. Get introduced to a great manufacturer, build trust and the result will be great product.

I recently did spoke about this at Bluetooth World in San Jose and my slides are below for you to read.

Finding a manufacturer for startups, Indiegogo and Kickstarter projects from Chris Herbert

The most hectic week of shopping is finally behind us, and its safe to say that this year’s Thanksgiving weekend was much quieter than expected. This year, retailers began offering their deals and specials early in November due to the shorter window of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and many big box stores like Target and Walmart, opted to open their doors on Thanksgiving. These changes encouraged shoppers to pace themselves rather than make all of their holiday purchases on one day.  

However, the most noticeable change to this holiday season’s shopping was the surge from online and mobile sales. Cyber Monday 2013 saw a record $2 billion in sales, with $400 million resulting from tablet and smartphone shoppers, showing greater consumer confidence in making mobile purchases. This year, the top item sold on Cyber Monday was the Apple iPad, followed closely by Microsoft’s Surface Tablet and HD televisions. But with about three weeks left before Christmas, and 37% of the holiday shopping completed, there is plenty of shopping left to complete. What big items are still on your holiday shopping list.

On Wednesday, over 50 million Americans will be traveling for the upcoming holiday weekend, making it the busiest travel day of the year. 

If you plan to hit the road this holiday, use these tips to ease the experience. 

Check your luggage with FedEx - The courier offers effective shipping options and peace of mind your bag will be at the front door of your destination. 

Knowledge is power - Use your smartphone to check weather and driving conditions before you hit the road. (Our favorite app for driving conditions is Waze) 

Plan & don't Rush - Write down each step of your itinerary with travel times. Sign up for email or text alerts with your airline to maximize your time.

Relax and enjoy the journey - Before you leave, take 15 minutes to download an audiobook, podcast, or new music album to enjoy on your journey.  

Whether you’re traveling or staying home this holiday season, Thanksgiving can be one of the most stressful times of the year. And, with over 43.4 million people predicted to be traveling this week, roads and airports will be at their most crowded. About 90% of travelers will be driving to their holiday destination, and combined with bad weather, this can lead to hours of traffic delays. This is especially true this year with extreme weather conditions, such as massive rain and snow storms, in the days leading up to Thanksgiving that have created very dangerous, and even deadly, driving conditions. For the 7% of holiday travelers, or around 2.5 million people, who will be flying to their destination on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving - the busiest travel day of the year - long security lines and crowded airports are expected. All of this traveling can add stress and costs to your trip, and cut into the limited time you have to spend with loved ones this Thanksgiving.

TrackR works hard to make sure that you don’t leave anything behind. By alerting you when your phone and TrackR are separated by more than 100 feet, you’re much less likely to lose those new sunglasses or your wallet. However, on the off chance that you don’t hear the alert or your valuables are stolen, Crowd Source Tracking can help you track it down.

When your TrackR device is left behind, it will automatically begin to emit a unique ID, which effectively mobilizes the entire TrackR community to be on the lookout for your lost item. When another user with the TrackR app is within 100 feet of your missing device, their app will send the location of your item to us, and we’ll send it to you. The “finder” will never even know they walked past your item, so it’s secure and anonymous; you’ll be the only one who knows where it is. Crowd Source Tracking can help you find your lost wallet or keys, so you don’t have to panic.

It’s Halloween and that means spooky decorations are up, candy is at the ready, and kids are in their costumes. Between carving pumpkins and passing out candy, take a moment to check out a few smartphone apps that can help with everything from hosting a haunting holiday party to trick-or-treating like a pro.

For turning your home into a haunted mansion or spooky Halloween get-together, the Halloween Soundlab app can provide spooktacular background music with sounds from witch’s cackles to werewolf howls to get guests into the holiday spirit. Foodie has an app perfect for holiday recipes, including Halloween themed cocktails and treats. But if inviting friends and family over isn’t an option, you can always share your holiday spirit with the Halloween Card Creator, an iPhone app that lets users create spooky Halloween cards and share them with loved ones through Facebook or email.

Our team just got back from GigaOM's Mobilize conference and it was a blast! Not only did we meet some great people but Chris gave a killer presentation at the Showcase.

Some highlights of his talk included: TrackR is a universal software, allowing you to track anything; $1 Million in revenue YTD; over 100,000 devices shipped. 

Our developers have been listening to all of the suggestions, comments and feedback from iOS users and have used them to upgrade TrackR for iOS7. Since iOS7 updates apps automatically, you should already be experiencing the new and upgraded app features, including improved connectivity. 

Don't worry, Android users! We're also working very closely with the Android team at Google to make sure Android users have the best possible experience. 

To date, we've shipped over 6,000 units to customers worldwide. We're so excited for everyone to receive their Wallet TrackRs.

Thankfully USPS is still operating as usual, so TrackRs will be arriving within the week.  

On this blog, we'll share news on current projects, upcoming events, new partnerships and collaborations, shipping updates, and our two cents in the item tracking and mobile tech industry.

(L-R: Tommy, Chris, Christian, and Kellie. Not pictured: Scott)

For starters, let's introduce the team behind TrackR.

Tommy is our Mobile Developer, aka brogrammer extraordinaire. Every morning, Tommy cruises in with his neon blue backpack and shuffles around empty coffee cups to make room for yet another cup of coffee as he settles in to get elbow deep in coding. He's the guy you can thank for perfecting TrackR's user experience. 

If Chris, our CEO and brains behind the operation, isn't catching an early morning wave, he's taking a meeting with an investor, trying his hand at coding, or brainstorming the next great TrackR product - we've got so many in store for you. Outside of TrackR, Chris is usually surfing at his go-to Santa Barbara spot or brushing up on his Japanese - he's fluent, test him. 

Christian, COO and the voice of reason, is the other half of the founding dynamic duo. Christian leads TrackR sales and operations as the heavy hitter on the "To Do" list. When he is not closing deals with our brand and retail partners, he keeps our daily operations steadily flowing. 

Kellie joins the TrackR team as its Marketing Manager. You can usually find her glued to the computer and phone answering multiple messages at once, all while responding to Tweets (@PhoneHalo) and coming up with new marketing strategies. 

Scott is our jack of all trades, but officially goes by Director of Business Development. When he's not closing deals with distributors in China or seeking out new business opportunities, he's cranking out amazing presentations and product designs like the design wizard that he is.

We'd love to hear from you, so feel free to drop us a line in the comments section and be sure to stay posted.