Soon an AirTag made by Google ? This is suggested by Kuba Wojciechowski, Android researcher relayed by our colleagues fromAndroid Police.
A tracker called “grogu”?
Google would have chosen to baptize its house tracker Grogu, Groguaudio or GR10, the teams of the Nest branch being in charge of its development. Recently, the giant would have worked on the implementation of an option to locate its tag within the Fast Pair tool, which makes it possible to easily connect objects to its smartphone via Bluetooth. Like Apple’s AirTag, the device could have a small speaker, but be offered in different colors.
For localization, Grogu would use Ultra WideBand (UWB) paired with Bluetooth. As a reminder, UWB is a technology based on the transmission of very short duration pulses, on several frequencies at the same time. This process is less energy-intensive, more resilient to interference, and is beginning to be deployed on Android smartphones. For its part, Google has implemented ultra-wideband connectivity on its high-end phones, such as the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro. The real usefulness of the UWB therefore began to raise questions on the side of Android.
Devices (sometimes) diverted
The possible arrival of this tracker could mark the launch of a localization network specific to Google. With its AirTag, Apple relies on its huge ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, MacBook, etc.) to locate objects with its chip. When the AirTag is near an Apple-branded device, it communicates with it and transmits its position to Apple’s servers. In Cupertino, UWB is particularly useful for searching AirTags with precision.
In developing this tool, Google should not fail to take into account the grievances against Bluetooth trackers. For the past few months, these small devices have been hijacked for malicious purposes, to follow people without their knowledge. Spied on by their ex-companion, two women had thus decided to file a complaint against Apple in December 2022 to denounce the supposed dangerousness of AirTags.