7 ms·

TrackR

75 points by tfang17 13y ago

samwilliams 13y ago
Looks interesting! I assume it is US only for now though? It is probably worth making that clear on the sign up page :). Good luck!
- stormbrew 13y ago
  Seems that way from the signup form. :/
  - egeozcan 13y ago
    I just wrote my German address. It didn't ask for a country and I assumed it was Germany only (/sarcasm) It's annoying when companies assume that the world starts and ends within the US.
    - imdsm 13y ago
      I wrote my UK address, and it took it. Will see what happens.
    - zimpenfish 13y ago
      Isn't it to do with getting various electronic / noise / whatever certifications though? FCC vs UL vs EU vs ...
    - ddoolin 13y ago
      It's equally annoying that they can't only cater to the US without someone who isn't from the US getting annoyed about it. Why do they have to be international? What if they only want to serve US customers? It's not a crime or even bad.
      - egeozcan 13y ago
        Probably that wasn't clear. I was annoyed because it didn't have any warnings on the signup form for being US-only. It made me waste time filling the form, only to see that there wasn't even a country selection. It's like assuming there's only one country. Of course you can cater to US only. But never forget that USA is not the only English-speaking country and English is a universal language. Combining these, many people may assume that you're doing international business if you don't say otherwise on your web page.
      - moeffju 13y ago
        So they should make it clear on the landing page, not just imply it by putting up a form without country field. It just reeks of US-centrism and ignoring that there are other countries out there.
- MattBearman 13y ago
  Indeed, I was quite excited to be getting one of these, and then I see there's no country option on the US-centric sign up form. I'd happily pay shipping to get this in the UK, I've contacted them saying this, interesting to see what the response is.
cbaleanu 13y ago
I could not find a privacy section anywhere on the site. I think you should have that, considering you want people to trust you with their locations.
- huhtenberg 13y ago
  Not even that. They have "crowd-sourced" location service of your items, meaning that each of their users acts like a scanner for all tracker devices out there. This is ripe for abuse.
  - luka-birsa 13y ago
    Want to track a human? Just plant a tag in their purse/on their car. So much abuse. I hope there is some legislation out there that prevents such devices.
    - MichaelGG 13y ago
      The action should be prevented, not the device. And these actions already are prevented in most jurisdictions.
  - MichaelGG 13y ago
    What abuse? Apart from tagging valuable objects in a way that makes them easier to find. That let's someone could go through apparently deserted areas (like after a concert) and find valuables left behind. But the actual privacy part shouldn't be too bad, right? They could use a time-based code, so that each beacon transmits a seemingly-random ID every minute, and only their servers can link that up to something. If it's static, then yeah, it's like tagging yourself. Or carrying a modern passport. Or phone or laptop. It's a shame that most people will probably not really care about this aspect.
    - luka-birsa 13y ago
      This is not like carrying a passport, phone or computer at all. I can be tracked without my knowledge - somebody just needs to plant a minature tracker in my laptop bag. Edit: The issue is that everybody tracks everybody, not like with Tile or Chipolo - where you only track your own tags with your own smartphone (ie: you need to be near your tagged items to track them, which makes covert location tracking of persons hard).
mplewis 13y ago
Looks like it uses exactly the same principle as http://www.thetileapp.com http://www.thetileapp.com.
- dspoka 13y ago
  but this is an actual product and tile is in production =)
devindotcom 13y ago
Aren't there like a dozen of this type of device/ecosystem right now? I really don't see any reason to buy into this type of thing before one really differentiates itself from the rest. I'm glad there are lots of options... but honestly, it's like standing in the paper towel aisle at this point.
unwind 13y ago
"Time's running out to get your free TrackR free!" needs some editing, in my opinion. :) Glad to see more action around trackable objects, each further step towards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spime http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spime is interesting for sure.
notthetup 13y ago
US Only.. :(
manuletroll 13y ago
For some reason I read that as TrackIR.. On a more relevant side it definitely looks interesting as I lose stuff very easily.
CheckHook 13y ago
I was a backer for this project on Indiegogo, they are awful! The devices simply don't work and the customer service is awful, they have now started to delete any negative comments on the project page. The devices that shipped differed from the ones that we backed and the team refused to listen to the backers. The devices also shipped late. Steer clear people.
- easytiger 13y ago
  Ouch, this needs critical mass to work at all. Otherwise it is fairly valueless
  - CheckHook 13y ago
    Even then they would be useless as my (and many other backers) devices only connect the once and then disconnect forever. Its a real shame as this is a great idea but the company behind it is crooked.
    - kenrikm 13y ago
      Their software is terrible, I wrote an iOS App in less then a day that was better then what they provide. The longer oval beacons themselves were actually not the issue. just really, really bad software.
- rasz_pl 13y ago
  Are you thinking of sticknfind? http://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/sticknfind-bluetooth-low-energy-(ble)-tracking-tags/ http://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/sticknfin... or is trackr just as bad as those?
  - ronaldx 13y ago
    As the parent describes: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wallet-trackr-find-your-wallet?c=comments http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wallet-trackr-find-your-wa...
BHSPitMonkey 13y ago
Looks like a nice way of hunting down other peoples' lost valuables. Thanks!
- theboss 13y ago
  My first thought too. I'm assuming it works like. 1. I need to find something, I tell trackr the id of my token. 2. trackr tells other trackr users the id to look for. 3. trackr enabled phones search in vicinity for it. What happens when trackr enabled phones decide not to report back their findings...Sounds like a fun treasure hunt competition.
danshapiro 13y ago
If you submit the form, they notify you that you're Nth in line (N=70k right now) but they'll ship you one now if you... you guessed it... buy it.
NKCSS 13y ago
Too bad companies like this never mention that it's US only :-/
bayesianhorse 13y ago
I think this is a hoax... Just doesn't have the right feeling.
aashishkoirala 13y ago
Nice idea, but there are just too many privacy implications here to ignore.
francis88 13y ago
it looks nice but the on-boarding process is a shame. Advertising the "get yours free" knowing that the cap has already been achieved is not really honest as for me.
sensecall 13y ago
I love the concept, but can't get over the limited lifespan of this type of device. We built something a little more basic last year - https://loseproof.com/ https://loseproof.com/
moeffju 13y ago
And of course, US only by way of not even having a country field on the form, but without actually stating that somewhere. Sad.
erikb 13y ago
Wow, after reading the name I thought I would come here and write a comment about how a more detailed introduction might have helped the project. But reading the other comments this team might have a bigger communication problem. I feel with you, guys. Sometimes even the greatest product can get destroyed by some communication problems.
gojomo 13y ago
Nice try, General Clapper.
gapchuboy 13y ago
Sweet, you're in the queue but it looks like there's a few people ahead of you. Jump ahead by choosing an option below. 81642 PEOPLE AHEAD OF YOU 4 YOUR BOARDING GROUP You're all set to get a StickRTrackR and soon you won't need to worry about losing items. There's some people ahead of you and we can only ship so many per day. Tired of waiting? Upgrade your boarding group by doing one of the easy actions below! Buy an Additional TrackR for $19.95 and Receive Free Shipping + Your Free Device Now!
cgherb 13y ago
Thanks for the post :)

75 points by tfang17 13y ago

Looks interesting! I assume it is US only for now though? It is probably worth making that clear on the sign up page :). Good luck!

stormbrew 13y ago
Seems that way from the signup form. :/
- egeozcan 13y ago
  I just wrote my German address. It didn't ask for a country and I assumed it was Germany only (/sarcasm) It's annoying when companies assume that the world starts and ends within the US.
  - imdsm 13y ago
    I wrote my UK address, and it took it. Will see what happens.
  - zimpenfish 13y ago
    Isn't it to do with getting various electronic / noise / whatever certifications though? FCC vs UL vs EU vs ...
  - ddoolin 13y ago
    It's equally annoying that they can't only cater to the US without someone who isn't from the US getting annoyed about it. Why do they have to be international? What if they only want to serve US customers? It's not a crime or even bad.
    - egeozcan 13y ago
      Probably that wasn't clear. I was annoyed because it didn't have any warnings on the signup form for being US-only. It made me waste time filling the form, only to see that there wasn't even a country selection. It's like assuming there's only one country. Of course you can cater to US only. But never forget that USA is not the only English-speaking country and English is a universal language. Combining these, many people may assume that you're doing international business if you don't say otherwise on your web page.
    - moeffju 13y ago
      So they should make it clear on the landing page, not just imply it by putting up a form without country field. It just reeks of US-centrism and ignoring that there are other countries out there.
MattBearman 13y ago
Indeed, I was quite excited to be getting one of these, and then I see there's no country option on the US-centric sign up form. I'd happily pay shipping to get this in the UK, I've contacted them saying this, interesting to see what the response is.

cbaleanu 13y ago

I could not find a privacy section anywhere on the site. I think you should have that, considering you want people to trust you with their locations.

huhtenberg 13y ago
Not even that. They have "crowd-sourced" location service of your items, meaning that each of their users acts like a scanner for all tracker devices out there. This is ripe for abuse.
- luka-birsa 13y ago
  Want to track a human? Just plant a tag in their purse/on their car. So much abuse. I hope there is some legislation out there that prevents such devices.
  - MichaelGG 13y ago
    The action should be prevented, not the device. And these actions already are prevented in most jurisdictions.
- MichaelGG 13y ago
  What abuse? Apart from tagging valuable objects in a way that makes them easier to find. That let's someone could go through apparently deserted areas (like after a concert) and find valuables left behind. But the actual privacy part shouldn't be too bad, right? They could use a time-based code, so that each beacon transmits a seemingly-random ID every minute, and only their servers can link that up to something. If it's static, then yeah, it's like tagging yourself. Or carrying a modern passport. Or phone or laptop. It's a shame that most people will probably not really care about this aspect.
  - luka-birsa 13y ago
    This is not like carrying a passport, phone or computer at all. I can be tracked without my knowledge - somebody just needs to plant a minature tracker in my laptop bag. Edit: The issue is that everybody tracks everybody, not like with Tile or Chipolo - where you only track your own tags with your own smartphone (ie: you need to be near your tagged items to track them, which makes covert location tracking of persons hard).

mplewis 13y ago

Looks like it uses exactly the same principle as http://www.thetileapp.com http://www.thetileapp.com.

dspoka 13y ago
but this is an actual product and tile is in production =)

devindotcom 13y ago

Aren't there like a dozen of this type of device/ecosystem right now? I really don't see any reason to buy into this type of thing before one really differentiates itself from the rest. I'm glad there are lots of options... but honestly, it's like standing in the paper towel aisle at this point.

unwind 13y ago

"Time's running out to get your free TrackR free!" needs some editing, in my opinion. :) Glad to see more action around trackable objects, each further step towards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spime http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spime is interesting for sure.

notthetup 13y ago

US Only.. :(

manuletroll 13y ago

For some reason I read that as TrackIR.. On a more relevant side it definitely looks interesting as I lose stuff very easily.

CheckHook 13y ago

I was a backer for this project on Indiegogo, they are awful! The devices simply don't work and the customer service is awful, they have now started to delete any negative comments on the project page. The devices that shipped differed from the ones that we backed and the team refused to listen to the backers. The devices also shipped late. Steer clear people.

easytiger 13y ago
Ouch, this needs critical mass to work at all. Otherwise it is fairly valueless
- CheckHook 13y ago
  Even then they would be useless as my (and many other backers) devices only connect the once and then disconnect forever. Its a real shame as this is a great idea but the company behind it is crooked.
  - kenrikm 13y ago
    Their software is terrible, I wrote an iOS App in less then a day that was better then what they provide. The longer oval beacons themselves were actually not the issue. just really, really bad software.
rasz_pl 13y ago
Are you thinking of sticknfind? http://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/sticknfind-bluetooth-low-energy-(ble)-tracking-tags/ http://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/sticknfin... or is trackr just as bad as those?
- ronaldx 13y ago
  As the parent describes: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wallet-trackr-find-your-wallet?c=comments http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wallet-trackr-find-your-wa...

BHSPitMonkey 13y ago

Looks like a nice way of hunting down other peoples' lost valuables. Thanks!

theboss 13y ago
My first thought too. I'm assuming it works like. 1. I need to find something, I tell trackr the id of my token. 2. trackr tells other trackr users the id to look for. 3. trackr enabled phones search in vicinity for it. What happens when trackr enabled phones decide not to report back their findings...Sounds like a fun treasure hunt competition.

danshapiro 13y ago

If you submit the form, they notify you that you're Nth in line (N=70k right now) but they'll ship you one now if you... you guessed it... buy it.

NKCSS 13y ago

Too bad companies like this never mention that it's US only :-/

bayesianhorse 13y ago

I think this is a hoax... Just doesn't have the right feeling.

aashishkoirala 13y ago

Nice idea, but there are just too many privacy implications here to ignore.

francis88 13y ago

it looks nice but the on-boarding process is a shame. Advertising the "get yours free" knowing that the cap has already been achieved is not really honest as for me.

sensecall 13y ago

I love the concept, but can't get over the limited lifespan of this type of device. We built something a little more basic last year - https://loseproof.com/ https://loseproof.com/

moeffju 13y ago

And of course, US only by way of not even having a country field on the form, but without actually stating that somewhere. Sad.

erikb 13y ago

Wow, after reading the name I thought I would come here and write a comment about how a more detailed introduction might have helped the project. But reading the other comments this team might have a bigger communication problem. I feel with you, guys. Sometimes even the greatest product can get destroyed by some communication problems.

gojomo 13y ago

Nice try, General Clapper.

gapchuboy 13y ago

Sweet, you're in the queue but it looks like there's a few people ahead of you. Jump ahead by choosing an option below. 81642 PEOPLE AHEAD OF YOU 4 YOUR BOARDING GROUP You're all set to get a StickRTrackR and soon you won't need to worry about losing items. There's some people ahead of you and we can only ship so many per day. Tired of waiting? Upgrade your boarding group by doing one of the easy actions below! Buy an Additional TrackR for $19.95 and Receive Free Shipping + Your Free Device Now!

cgherb 13y ago

Thanks for the post :)