How often do you forget your keys or your phone? The makers of the O assume that for many of us, the answer is — often. They’re banking on the idea that a lot of people could do with some organization in their lives, and their unobtrusive little tracker is up on Kickstarter right now.
The O (for Octopus) looks like it could be a simple keychain, a piece of jewelry, or a handbag notion, but it’s really a tracker. Attach it to anything and the Octopus iOS or Android app will watch over it like a hawk using a BLE sensor — no Internet connection required.
Its associated app is what separates the O from other trackers. It acts like a virtual leash and personal assistant that takes a variety of factors into account to help you manage what you may or may not need and keep track of your stuff.
Related: This reusable, rechargeable GPS tracker is no bigger than a quarter
For instance, on rainy days the O app will remind you to take an umbrella. If you set it for certain days — you teach an art class Wednesday and you need your kit — it will remind you of that item on those days, and not the rest of the week.
The O is more proactive than item trackers that help you find things after you’ve lost them, though it does record “last seen” item locations (in case you miss an alarm). If you’re going out to a club and want to put your bag down, your phone will tell you when your bag gets too far away. If you tuck an O in your wallet, the O app will remind you the second you step outside your house that you’ve left all your cards and cash on the kitchen counter. And it’s just as handy for coat checks (though one would assume the biting weather would be reminder enough).
Best of all, when you’re at home or in other safe places, the app has nothing to warn you about, and you can relax knowing when you leave again the O app will automatically treat you like the scatter-brained genius you are.
The little BLE tracker itself was designed with help from a jewelry and luxury fashion designer. It’s light and slim enough to sew onto fabric, IPX6 compliant (waterproof), and will run for a year and a half on a CR 2025 battery. Unfortunately the battery isn’t replaceable, but the company does offer a replacement program for customers.
The app itself is designed to look stellar while tracking up to 16 items, though there is no theoretical limit on how many you can register. You can even add your child or pet.
The O’s come in packs of four or eight, with different key chain accessory holders for the sensor available in sporty rubber, gunmetal rhodium, or 18K gold. The colors for the sensor are still up for debate. The retail price will be between $80 and $130 for four O’s and at least one accessory, but you can grab one of the remaining specials for as low as $56. The company is seeking a little over $48,600 and their campaign ends on October 8. They plan to ship to backers by February 2016.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.