Note 3 and Bluetooth 4

[Simon_Gardner]

I think I'm right in saying the Note 3 has low energy Bluetooth 4 - not much available on Android devices (is that right)?

The reason I'm interested at the moment is the "lost items" tile device and App being developed...
Tile app
The developers say "Q. No Android support?
"A. At this time Android does not support Bluetooth 4.0. A few Android phone manufacturers have released BLE SDKs, however they are lacking in quality and stability. At Tile, the quality of our products is of utmost importance, and until there exists an Android platform that meets our quality standards, we will not be releasing a Tile app for Android."

 

[The_Chief]

According to GSM Arena, full specs include BT 4.0 with A2DP, LE, and EDR. So yes, Note 3 will have Low Energy

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - Full phone specifications


EDIT: I e-mailed the Tile team and let the know to go ahead and PLEASE port an Android version of Tile. I'm sure they would love to hear from more people... it might help them gauge demand for it. WOW, that's an awesome concept!

 

[Simon_Gardner]

I e-mailed the Tile team and let them know to go ahead and PLEASE port an Android version of Tile. I'm sure they would love to hear from more people... it might help them gauge demand for it. WOW, that's an awesome concept!

I was really impressed. Let's see if it comes to pass anyway. Still being developed.

 

[Scootmien]

That is an awesome concept. I love it. Once they decide to release an Android app, i'm buying some. I'll mail them and tell them there is more support for this app on Android than they think.

 

[BobF]

According to GSM Arena, full specs include BT 4.0 with A2DP, LE, and EDR. So yes, Note 3 will have Low Energy

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - Full phone specifications


EDIT: I e-mailed the Tile team and let the know to go ahead and PLEASE port an Android version of Tile. I'm sure they would love to hear from more people... it might help them gauge demand for it. WOW, that's an awesome concept!

Thanks for the heads-up. I have also emailed the Tile team . I mentioned that the Note 3 will have Bluetooth 4.0 support and that I hope the Tile team would test Tile with it. Hopefully if enough of us email them we will get their attention!

 

[Simon_Gardner]

This concept was floated on breakfast news TV here a month or two back and the news anchor - a well known tech geek - just didn't understand the main point that a critical mass of apps would be searching for your missing item all over the place - not just (as he thought) your own (short range Bluetooth 4) phone/tablet. Its power relies on mass take up. Which would seem to mean an Android version makes some commercial sense to make the device that much more viable.

But it's still not a reality for IOS yet...

What's the situation with other Samsung devices like the S4, the Mega and Note 10.1. Are they Bluetooth 4 compliant?

 

[The_Chief]

Not sure... that would take a search for BT 4.0 compliant devices, should be easy enough

 

[drexappeal]

I think I'm right in saying the Note 3 has low energy Bluetooth 4 - not much available on Android devices (is that right)?

The reason I'm interested at the moment is the "lost items" tile device and App being developed...
Tile app
The developers say "Q. No Android support?
"A. At this time Android does not support Bluetooth 4.0. A few Android phone manufacturers have released BLE SDKs, however they are lacking in quality and stability. At Tile, the quality of our products is of utmost importance, and until there exists an Android platform that meets our quality standards, we will not be releasing a Tile app for Android."

That's the oddest statement I've ever seen because the Note 2 has Bluetooth 4.0...LOL. I think the statement is more-so, "um, we're not sure how to program for android, so we're not going to go that route."

After looking at what that app does, I can't see why anybody using Android would pay money for it. There are so many other good/better alternatives out there.

And Google just released this a month or two ago:
https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager

I can attest to the device manager working perfectly well, as I was able to locate a family member's device, at my house, when she thought she had left it somewhere. I activated the ringtone, which allowed her to find it hidden under one of the pillows in my house.

 

[BobF]

I was interested in the the idea of putting these tiles on other devices besides our phones, such as my wife's keys! But I agree it's a bit of a gimmick. I can be a sucker for gimmicks, however....

 

[Simon_Gardner]

I can attest to the device manager working perfectly well, as I was able to locate a family member's device, at my house, when she thought she had left it somewhere. I activated the ringtone, which allowed her to find it hidden under one of the pillows in my house.

I'm impressed your car keys or your pocket camera have a ringtone.

 

[drexappeal]

I was interested in the the idea of putting these tiles on other devices besides our phones, such as my wife's keys! But I agree it's a bit of a gimmick. I can be a sucker for gimmicks, however....

Well, Cobra has a similar product that is on a Groupon deal for $8.99 right now:
Cobra Tag 2-Way Separation Alarm for Valuables Deal of the Day | Groupon

 

[Simon_Gardner]

Well, Cobra has a similar product that is on a Groupon deal for $8.99 right now:

I think that still misses the point as per post above. It's not particularly about your phone and one missing item. It's about potentially hundreds of thousands of phones and your one missing item.

 

[The_Chief]

The only issue I have with Tile is that the tags only last one year... then they need to be replaced. You would think that they would have put wireless inductive charging in there somehow, rather than a standard battery

 

[Simon_Gardner]

The only issue I have with Tile is that the tags only last one year... then they need to be replaced.

That's actually what I think makes the whole thing that much more viable. Excellent income stream for those guys.

(Time to confess I already had 4 on order as of 2 months ago on their 4 for 3 deal.)

 

[drexappeal]

I think that still misses the point as per post above. It's not particularly about your phone and one missing item. It's about potentially hundreds of thousands of phones and your one missing item.

Just re-read your analogy. Not sure I understand the hundreds of thousands of phones.

 

[Simon_Gardner]

Just re-read your analogy. Not sure I understand the hundreds of thousands of phones.

You lose something with a tile attached. Your phone looks for it. Everyone else's phone with the tile.app looks for it in their vicinity too.

As I understand it, that's the plan.

 

[BobF]

Only others to whom you've given permission can search for your tiles.

This is from the Tile FAQ:

Q. Can other Tile app users search for my Tiles?

A. No. The Tile team takes your security seriously. Only you and the Tile users you've explicitly shared your Tiles with can search for your Tiles.

Still it's pretty powerful.

 

[Simon_Gardner]

Sure "others can't search for your tiles". But you can - via their devices. Not the same thing. That's my understanding.

 

[Simon_Gardner]

Just got an email and they are definitely going into production with the tile. Still no Android.

 

[drexappeal]

You lose something with a tile attached. Your phone looks for it. Everyone else's phone with the tile.app looks for it in their vicinity too.

As I understand it, that's the plan.

After watching the video and your reply, I see what you were getting at with the analogy, now. Realistically, it'll just depend on how many people actually have/use the tile app. So, if it catches on like the WAZE navigation app, then it could be useful. But, realistically, the app only helps show the item if it's within vicinity of someone else that has the tile app.

 

[Simon_Gardner]

That's it in a nutshell.

In any case, the Note 3 should be technologically capable.

 

[drexappeal]

That's it in a nutshell.

In any case, the Note 3 should be technologically capable.

Yeah, the excuse of Android not being compatible with BT 4.0 just sounds like a b.s. way to not make an app for Android compatibility.

 

[ovrrdrive]

I don't think an app like this will really take off until a really bug manufacturer like samsung has this app running on phones in the stock rom. Deploy it in 5 million phones and its a game changer.

 

[Simon_Gardner]

Just to say, I've started a new thread on Tile™ as I'm now using the newish Tile Android app on my Note 3.
http://androidforums.com/threads/tile-app-on-note-3.905447/