Big technology companies are competing to put an end to the inconvenience of having to search for misplaced belongings. Alamy
Big technology companies are competing to put an end to the inconvenience of having to search for misplaced belongings. Alamy
Big technology companies are competing to put an end to the inconvenience of having to search for misplaced belongings. Alamy
Big technology companies are competing to put an end to the inconvenience of having to search for misplaced belongings. Alamy

Never lose your keys again: How technology is evolving to help us keep tabs on our belongings


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We are a forgetful species, and our belongings tend to go astray. Insurance companies, which have a vested interest in getting us to pay to protect ourselves against loss, have commissioned surveys to measure the extent of this problem.

The average person misplaces nine objects every day, says one. We spend 12 days a year looking for things, says another. These numbers may or may not be accurate, but we all recognise the inconvenience of losing keys, phones, purses and wallets.

It’s a problem that technology has sought to solve in recent years by enabling objects to beep, phone home or show up on a map. But soon, lost items may be able to reveal themselves a lot more easily and precisely.

A form of wireless communication called ultra-wideband, or UWB, enables location pinpointing accurate to the centimetre, and it’s built into the latest smartphones from Apple and Samsung. Next year, if rumours are to be believed, these will be followed up with next-generation tags – also UWB-equipped – that can be attached to whatever we choose. It may precipitate the previously unthinkable: the unlosable car key.

You'll be able to use your smartphone to find what you're looking for, whether it's somewhere to eat at the airport or ... your car in a parking garage

Tile was the first brand to capitalise on our need to find lost items. Eight years ago, the fledgling company smashed crowdfunding records to finance the production of its Bluetooth-enabled tags, which could connect with a smartphone app, advise where they were last “seen” and beep helpfully. If you were out of the Bluetooth range of a tag, a larger network formed by other Tile users could come to your rescue. While competitors came and went – Proximo, Bringrr, Gecko and others – Tile went from strength to strength, forming alliances with the likes of Google, Intel and HP.

A new surge of interest has accompanied rumours that Apple is getting in on the act. The development of a small circular disc dubbed “AirTag” was first hinted at 18 months ago, with references to it found in the iPhone’s operating system.

Earlier this year, its existence was accidentally revealed in a now-deleted Apple support video, showing how the app that is currently used to find your smartphone could be used to find other objects.

While this could be seen as encroaching on Tile’s well-­established territory, there’s one key difference: the presence of UWB in both the tag and the phone. The code suggested that by using your phone’s camera and scanning the room, the location of an object could be revealed on screen by means of a small balloon. No beep necessary.

The technology that facilitates this modern-day magic isn’t new. UWB has existed for decades, but it never caught on as a method of sending data. However, when Apple’s iPhone 11 became the first smartphone to utilise it in September last year, its new role as a “sensing chip” soon became clear.

"UWB has been around for a while, but the chips implementing the technology are new or somewhat new," says Stanford University's Colleen Josephson in a recent episode of the technology podcast Cookies. "The key is not so much the technology, but the players. Once big players have taken this technology and essentially endorsed it by including it in their products, that is the real catalyst for this to become ubiquitous."

How does it work? UWB sends out up to a billion incredibly short pulses of energy per second, and their departure and arrival can be measured with great accuracy. Until now, the location of devices has generally been measured according to the signal strength of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, by converting that to a rough estimate of distance. UWB measures the distance precisely, and gains power and flexibility when used in tandem with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Apple was coy about UWB initially, indicating that it would be mainly used to transfer files between devices, while also hinting at its “spatial awareness”.

Could UWB help us keep tabs on all our items in the near future? Unsplash
Could UWB help us keep tabs on all our items in the near future? Unsplash

But almost a year later, in August this year, Samsung was more bullish about its potential when it incorporated UWB into the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

“It allows mobile devices to better understand their surroundings,” says KJ Kim, the company’s chief technology officer. “It can assist with a wide range of needs, from making secure remote payments to locating a missing remote control. UWB also makes it possible to navigate large spaces with incredible accuracy, which means you’ll be able to use your smartphone to find what you’re looking for, whether it’s somewhere to eat at the airport or the location of your car in a parking garage.”

Last week, it was reported that Samsung could also be developing a UWB tag, the “Galaxy Smart Tag”, in direct competition with Apple. More than 40 other companies, including Sony, Volkswagen and Bosch, are also working on UWB standards.

The implications are huge. What GPS did for the outdoors, UWB can do for indoors. Devices will know where we are and vice versa, with homes and workplaces responding to our proximity and integrating us with our environments: doors that unlock, lights that switch on. Of course, these developments are not without their challenges.

"Describing a scenario where you walk into a shop and it points you to a particular product or helps you navigate that environment, that's great," says New York University's Yan Shvartzshnaider in the aforementioned Cookies podcast. "[But] certainly it can have a negative effect on consumer privacy."

In this technological age, convenience always comes with trade-offs. But for now, to focus on one of the positives: at least we’ll know where our keys are.

RESULTS

Tottenham 1

Jan Vertonghen 13'

Norwich 1

Josip Drmic 78'

2-3 on penalties

The struggle is on for active managers

David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.

The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.

Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.

Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.

Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.

At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn. 

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

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Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFirst%20match%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2020%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%2016%20round%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%203%20to%206%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQuarter-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%209%20and%2010%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESemi-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2013%20and%2014%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2018%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km

Price: Dh133,900

On sale: now 

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

MATCH INFO

England 241-3 (20 ovs)

Malan 130 no, Morgan 91

New Zealand 165 all out (16.5ovs)

Southee 39, Parkinson 4-47

England win by 76 runs

Series level at 2-2

Company profile

Company: Eighty6 

Date started: October 2021 

Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh 

Based: Dubai, UAE 

Sector: Hospitality 

Size: 25 employees 

Funding stage: Pre-series A 

Investment: $1 million 

Investors: Seed funding, angel investors  

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

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AUSTRALIA SQUAD

Tim Paine (captain), Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

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Spider-Man: No Way Home

Director: Jon Watts

Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon 

Rating:*****