For the many early backers awaiting their Tile to ship, the wait shouldn't be much longer. The crowdsourced lost item finder (based on Bluetooth connectivity) is now starting to ship.
Tile will allow owners of keys, wallets, purses, suitcases, bikes and other items to keep track of their items or find them when lost. Each Tile is placed on an item of the owner's choosing and through the use of an iPhone or iOS device these items can be tracked.
The project took a while to come through as the company delayed shipments from previous dates. However, Tile is now shipping hundreds of units to various parts of the world (USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand are supported).
"We've shipped hundreds of orders this week," the company tweeted.
Anyone interested in purchasing a Tile can directly purchase it from the company's website for $19.95 each. Alternatively, the company offers a deal where anyone can purchase three tiles for $59.85 and get the fourth for free; purchase six and get two free for $119.70; or purchase nine and get three free for $179.55.
The company also released an app available on the App Store for iOS devices that works with the peripheral. Both are required for Tile to work properly as the tile is actually imputed on top of the iOS screen while setting up the app and item to be added to the app.
Owners can decide what to tile and name the item or items accordingly and take a picture of it. The app shows bars indicating how close owners are to their items they inputted Tile into and a tune will be played when they want to find the items.
What is also nice about the app is that when something can't be found or isn't within range, the Tile app also keeps track of the last place it recognized it. In this way it can act in a way as Apple's Find My iPhone feature, but for a wide range of devices besides electronics. A community lost and found feature is also available.
Tile seems like a great way to keep track of expensive or valuable items in addition to standard precautions such as bike locks for bicycles. One thing that may disappoint some is that it will have to be replaced annually due to its battery being diminished over time.
