Making Tech Headlines · Page 2
Google's Tracker Learns That Finding Things Earlier Might Be Useful
· New York time
Google has started rolling out a Find Hub feature that alerts users when they leave a location tracker, or the item attached to it, behind. Called Notify when left behind, the feature aims to warn someone before a forgotten bag or set of keys is too far away to retrieve easily. Apple has offered separation alerts for Find My devices for years, and Samsung added a similar feature to SmartThings for devices including Galaxy SmartTags and Buds. Google is joining a club whose central insight is that losing something is easier to fix before the owner has completed the trip home. The original appeal of a tracker is a map showing where an item went. A separation alert adds a more immediate question: why did its owner leave without it? That is a useful distinction when the missing object is still at a restaurant rather than somewhere on tomorrow's itinerary. It also gives the smartphone another opportunity to interrupt its owner. Phones already compete for attention with messages, updates and promotions, so a warning about a forgotten bag must share the stage with less urgent announcements. The tracker can now raise its hand at the right moment. The remaining challenge is persuading its owner that this particular notification is not another invitation to review a purchase.
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