Why I am waiting for Google's Android tracker

Now this is not a dig at Pebblebee or Chipolo. I believe their initial offerings are about what I was expecting. The specs are very similar although at first glance the Pebblebee seems to be a slightly better option to me. I suggest anyone that's interested in an Android tracker check out each product page for each manufacturer for themselves.

I buried the lead a bit. This past week Google finally announced their Android Find My Device Network is now rolling out to Android users in the US and Canada with global expansion later. With the Android FMDN users will be able to locate their phones, earbuds, headphones and tablets with the help of Android devices contributing to the network. In some cases users will be able to find their lost devices even with them powered off. The Pixel 8/8 Pro will support this feature.

With that, the reason why I am waiting to see if Google is making an Android tracker is simple. I want to see if they're going to incorporate Ultra Wide Band chips in their version for more precise device tacking. The Pixel 8 Pro has a UWB chip and it's not being used for that much right now. This is a much lower barrier of entry due to the suspected cost alone. There is also the chance that Google may add their own special sauce and have a feature the other devices won't have.

Hopefully we will hear something at IO in the next few weeks. What about you? Tell me what your plans are in the comments section.

Comments

Soundcore K20i review | A look at Ankers budget friendly earbuds (video)

Soundcore K20i by Anker, Semi-in-Ear Earbuds, Bluetooth Wireless, 36H Playtime, Fast Charge, Clear Sound, Comfortable Fit, ENC 2-Mic Clear Calls, Custom EQ, IPX5, Bluetooth 5.3, App Control. https://a.co/d/a27Mi9t

Reviewing the Pixelbook Go after 5 yrs | Software that is outpacing the hardware

No doubt, the Pixelbook Go has served me well in my 5 yrs with the laptop. This is not necessarily a review of the features on the laptop but a review of the PBG hardware and its usability in 2025. I acknowledge that I am a part of a very small club of users that still have and use this device but I must say that I still enjoy using the PBG every single day. Now, to the review. Hardware Right off the bat. The hardware is probably the least compelling aspect of the PBG. When the laptop was first released in 2019 it was already a year or two behind the competition with the onboard soc. Surprisingly, this has not negatively impacted using the laptop with most tasks. Web surfing is a breeze and most Android apps run pretty effortlessly. The 8th Gen i5 Intel soc paired with 8GB of RAM is well optimized and I feel that Google is getting as much as it can out of the chip. Where the PBG falls short is with video editing apps. I've tried several Android apps and a couple of Linux ap...

Just got Google's new experimental AI feature News Briefs on my Google TV Streamer

Google is always experimenting with AI and one of those new features I really hope sticks around is now available on my Google TV Streamer. News Briefs is an AI experiment that Google is rolling out to a small group of users as part of a test of the feature. When I turned on my TV this evening I quickly noticed the News Briefs feature. It looked similar to any other option on the Google TV home screen but with News Briefs for 5pm so assume there are News Briefs created throughout the day. The picture below is displayed at the end of the News Briefs. The feature is very reminiscent of what NotebookLM does with the two AI hosts that talk in what sounds like a podcast. News Briefs only has one voice that is somewhat similar to the Google Assistant voice on Android devices. I have only used this feature once and I already see the potential here. What was shown to me as part of the News Briefs was actually relevant and current news. The news discussed was very surface level, however, a YouT...

CorysTechTime

Search This Blog