This Startup Uses AI To Leave Apple's AirTag In The Dust

Tile was once the top name in the Bluetooth tracker market. While there was some competition, Tile raised over $140 million from venture capital firms, making it by far the most well-funded option on the market. This allowed the company to quickly capture market share and become a household name in the Bluetooth tracker market. 

That quickly changed on April 20, 2021, when Apple Inc. AAPL released the Apple AirTag. The competition was, as Tile’s CEO called it, “unfair.” Apple AirTags had access to the phone's chips, effectively allowing AirTags to ping any Apple device to find its location. To find your AirTag, it just needed to be around any Apple device, whereas a Tile had to be around your device.

Things might be heating up even more, with rumors Alphabet Inc. GOOGL subsidiary Google plans to enter the market. 

But one startup is getting rid of the need for Bluetooth tracking and adding features those products couldn’t dream of. MaxTracker is adding 5G and GPS capabilities with a battery life of up to a year, enabling you to track anything, anywhere from an app on your phone. 

Potentially more relevant is its recent patent filing to add artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to its devices. The devices will track metrics that can analyze a series of events and react appropriately. 

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For example, the announcement notes the devices can differentiate between a ball hitting the window of a car and someone attempting to break into the car and notify you appropriately. While these are relatively simple examples, it could have much broader implications on the personal tracker market. 

The device could be used to detect when an elderly person has fallen and can’t get up, a bike is knocked over by the wind versus being stolen or to notify parents if a child has been injured.

As it improves what a personal tracker can do, MaxTracker is raising on StartEngine to help ramp up its efforts and take on these giants. 

Given the relatively simple nature of an AirTag, these are features Apple can’t implement into the tracking device and would need to work around MaxTracker’s patent, if granted, and rework the AirTag completely.

As the AI and personal trackers market heats up, it’s likely capabilities like these will only continue to become more impressive.

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