We’ve covered the Tile before, but if you’re not familiar with this unassuming little device, it’s a Bluetooth tracker that you attach to your keys. Open up the app on your iPhone or Android phone and you can have the Tile ring, so you can find which couch cushion it’s under. It also works in reverse, so you can press a button on the Tile and have it ring your phone.
The Tile Slim is a new version that’s not much thicker than a credit card and it’s designed to slot unobtrusively into your wallet or purse. Just like the original model, it hooks up to your phone via Bluetooth, so you can make it ring or see its last known location on a map if it’s beyond Bluetooth range. It can hit 82 decibels, so you should be able to hear it wherever it is. The Tile Slim also has a button in the middle that you can press to make your phone ring, even if it’s in silent mode.
You also have the option of fixing the Tile Slim onto your laptop, tablet, or another device and Tile offers custom adhesive for the job, though it does have to be purchased separately. The Tile Slim has a choice of four different ringtones and the tracking feature is able to draw on the entire community of Tile users. The company has sold more than 6 million devices to date, so coverage in some areas is likely to be quite good, boosting your chances of recovering your belongings.
Tile has also been licensing the technology to device manufacturers and so you’ll find it integrated in the EcoReco electric scooter, a forthcoming Nomad power bank, and the Zillion smart wallet. The more places Tile technology is used, the better your chances of tracking a lost item.
The battery in the Tile Slim should last you at least a year, after which you can take advantage of the ReTile program to get a new Tile for 50 percent less than the usual price in return for sending your old Tile back. It’s also water resistant, with an IP5 rating, and fairly durable.
You can buy a single Tile Slim for $30 or opt for a pack of four at $100. The custom adhesive is $5 for a three pack. The Tile Slim is available now from the Tile website.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.