Samsung Connect Tag
Samsung announced the Samsung Connect Tag, one of the first mobile consumer products that use the fledgling narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) standard to connect devices.
NB-IoT licenses small amounts of LTE cellular spectrum to carry data for low-bandwidth devices. The device offers many benefits, including strong coverage, greater power efficiency, support for many devices, and relatively low operational costs.
The Samsung Connect Tag is small and sports an embedded SIM (eSIM), which is basically a non-removable, programmable “virtual” SIM that consumes less space and doesn’t require the user to install a physical card.
The Connect Tag works with GPS, Wi-Fi-based positioning (WPS), and Cell ID (CID) to identify location data indoors and outdoors.
Samsung’s SmartThings Hub
The Connect Tag works in conjunction with Samsung’s SmartThings Hub and the Samsung Connect mobile app. So, users can control and configure things remotely, while integrating the tracker with other connected devices.
Though similar features and functionality already exist in other products, Samsung offers the NB-IoT element as a key selling point. While it offers cellular connectivity for constantly tracking a specific person or product, it also promises “up to” seven days on a single charge, which is pretty good.
Many companies have raised big VC funding for mobile tracking contraptions. Earlier this year, New York-headquartered Lynq announced a $2 million round of funding for a tracker that lets you find anyone in a radius of up to five miles.
However, there is big demand for tracker devices, and it’s a market that Samsung is now looking to infiltrate. The company is debuting the Connect Tag in San Francisco later this week. But the device will first go on sale in Korea before expanding to “select countries” at a later date. Samsung hasn’t revealed the smart tag price and launching date.
More information: [Samsung]
