Tag Archives: AirTag

Motorola just debuted its AirTag Killer with Android-compatible tracking and a clever extra feature

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Motorola just announced its Android-based device tracker, and I’m sure if you saw it too, you’d have the same thoughts as I did. It looks very familiar… Almost too familiar. Modeled precisely on Apple’s AirTag, the Moto Tag is a tiny tracking device that works within the Android OS, allowing you to effectively and accurately track your belongings. When I first saw the Moto Tag, I found myself feeling a familiar sense of smugness at the fact that an Android company copied Apple (they did with the removal of the headphone jack, with the camera notch)… but then I remembered that the inverse is also true. The WWDC event was pretty much Apple announcing Android-like features for the iPhone, and rebranding Artificial Intelligence to Apple Intelligence. The catch there was that Apple took its sweet time to implement these features, but also did a better job. If you extend that benefit of doubt the other way, it becomes a lot easier to appreciate the Moto Tag for what it brings to the table.

Designer: Motorola

Like the AirTag, the Moto Tag is a small, circular disc slightly larger than a quarter. It boasts a user-replaceable CR2032 battery that Motorola claims will last a full year on a single charge. While it lacks a built-in keyring loop (there’s a clever reason why it copies the AirTag so shamelessly), it integrates seamlessly with the revamped Google Find My Device network. This ensures easy pairing with countless Android smartphones, allowing users to locate and even make the Moto Tag play a sound for easier retrieval.

Looking towards the future, Motorola has equipped the Moto Tag with ultrawideband (UWB) technology. This paves the way for “precision tracking,” a feature that will provide detailed on-screen instructions for finding the tracker when you’re in close proximity. While similar to Apple’s Precision Finding with AirTags, this functionality currently awaits an update to Google’s Find My Device network.

However, the Moto Tag boasts a unique feature that sets it apart: a built-in button. This button, cleverly placed where the “M” of the Motorola logo sits, can be pressed to make your paired smartphone ring. This comes in handy in those moments when you’ve misplaced your phone but have the Moto Tag within reach.

The multi-functionality doesn’t stop there. The button can also be used to trigger the camera shutter or recording button on Motorola phones, or any Android phone for that matter, making capturing content on the go a breeze. Finally, the Moto Tag is IP67 rated for dust, water, and dirt resistance, ensuring it can withstand everyday bumps and spills without compromising its tracking abilities.

But before you bash Motorola for being unimaginative or blatantly copying a product’s shape and size, there truly IS a clever reason why Motorola probably chose to make their tracking device look almost exactly like their competitor. Apple’s AirTag already has a flourishing accessory ecosystem. From holders and hangers to carabiners and even stickers that let you attach your AirTag to the inner lining of suitcases and laptop bags, the AirTag has no shortage of accessories to accompany it… and by copying the AirTag’s form factor, Motorola’s ensured absolute compatibility of every one of these accessories with the Moto Tag too. It’s genius, to leverage your competitor’s success to boost your own product. Isn’t it?!

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This Camera Lens Cover comes with a secret compartment for SD cards or an AirTag

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Your DSLR may not have Apple FindMy, but the folks at Polar Pro have a clever alternative. Meet the Defender, a camera body cap that fits directly over the lens rim, protecting the sensor inside from damage or exposure to outer elements. Designed to fit on a wide range of models, the Defender isn’t just a protective cover, it comes with a hollow design that lets you stow away essentials including SD cards or even an Apple AirTag. Pop the Defender onto your camera and now not only do you have memory cards available to you at the tip of your fingers, you’ve also got a camera that you can track on your iPhone or any other Apple device. Smart, eh?!

Designer: Polar Pro

The Defender Body Cap comes with a 6061 aluminum outer body, eschewing the plastic construction found on most default camera body caps. The aluminum offers stronger protection, defending your camera from bumps, scratches, and offering much higher protection than flimsy plastic.

The Defender’s secret sauce, however, lies in its inserts that fit into the body cap, allowing you to store items inside the cap’s spacious form factor. Polar Pro offers 3 inserts to choose from – one that holds an AirTag, another that holds 1 SD and 2 MicroSD cards, and a third that holds a CFexpress A card. The caveat, however, is that you can only use 1 insert at a time, which means you can’t simultaneously store an AirTag with an SD card (which feels like a bit of a lost opportunity to be honest), but I’d probably pick an AirTag any day, given that SD cards can easily fit in a wallet.

This nifty feature means your camera’s body cap now has a secondary purpose – hidden storage. The cap fits on Sony, Nikon, and Canon cameras, allowing you to pretty much attach the Defender onto DSLRs, SLRs, Mirrorless cameras, or even full-frame video cameras. Pop an AirTag in and your camera can easily be tracked on your FindMy app, so that if it ever gets misplaced or stolen, you’ll know exactly where it is. Chances are nobody will know the body cap has an AirTag concealed inside it, and anyone who values cameras will know better than to throw the body cap away.

The Polar Pro Defender comes in 3 colors – Black, Desert, and Forest, and ships with all 3 inserts, allowing you to choose what to tuck away in your body cap.

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Here Are The Oldest Apple Products Still Available Today

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If you asked anyone on the streets, they’d probably agree that Apple stands at the cutting edge of innovation. The company leads the smartphone market, wearable market, and tablet market, is one of the leaders in the desktop and laptop markets too, and is touted to be quite the disruptor in the AR/VR market too. Apple makes its own silicon, has a remarkable supply chain, runs its entire headquarters on renewable energy, and is set to go entirely carbon neutral by 2030. The company improves each product line at most every year, or at least every 2-3 years, but there are products in Apple’s production line that still haven’t seen updates in 3-4 or more years (some haven’t been updated in almost 9 years at this point). We’ve made a list of some of the ‘oldest’ products still available on Apple’s website dating back as early as 2015 and as recent as 2021. Now sure, all these devices are pretty great even by today’s standards… but there’s definitely room for improvement… and we’ve taken the liberty to leave out accessories like connectors and cables. Here are some of the ‘oldest’ Apple products you can still buy today.

Magic Mouse Gen 2 (2015)

It’s been nearly a decade since the infamous Magic Mouse Gen 2 got an update. Okay, maybe that isn’t entirely true because the wireless mouse did get a refresh in 2019 and 2021, but the only thing that materially changed was the introduction of new color variants. Even today, however, the mouse runs on the same internals, houses the same Lightning port, and still charges in a way that continues to baffle users around the globe. It’s speculated that Apple will be giving the mouse a refresh in 2024, although most rumors say that the company only plans on upgrading the charging port to USB-C. If you ask me, there’s a lot more they can do to improve the Magic Mouse’s design…

Magic Trackpad 3 (2015)

The Magic Trackpad 3 too shares this distinction with the Magic Mouse Gen 2. Debuted in 2015, the trackpad has only received color refreshes in upcoming years. However, the distinct difference between the trackpad and the mouse is that there really seems to be no room for improvement as far as this product is concerned. It looks sleek, performs well, and is wireless. It also charges via Lightning, which is something Apple should change moving forward, but at least you don’t need to turn the trackpad upside down while charging it…

Pro Display XDR (2019)

2019 really got overshadowed by the cheesegrater Mac Pro and its incredibly expensive wheels, but alongside them was also announced the Pro Display XDR. Designed to be the most high-end display available for Mac users, the display boasted a 32-inch 6K Retina screen with an ‘astonishing’ 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and an eye-watering $4999 starting price – that’s about as much as one Vision Pro headset and one iPhone 15 Pro Max with some change to spare. Surely the Pro Display XDR isn’t for everyone (Apple has a slightly more affordable Studio Display for most users), which is probably why Apple never gave it an update post-2019. After all, do you really need to upgrade a 32-inch 6K Retina display?! Fun Fact: The cheesegrater Mac Pro actually got an update in June 2023 with the M2 Ultra chip, leaving the Pro Display XDR behind.

AirPods Max (2020)

It became almost certain when Apple acquired Beats by Dre that they had plans of their own to enter the wearable audio market in a big way. The Beats acquisition happened in 2014, and just 2 years later, Apple dropped the first wireless AirPods in 2016. However, it took the company 4 full years to release their first wireless over-ear headsets. The AirPods Max debuted in December of 2020, immediately becoming Apple’s flagship wearable audio device. It had everything – an aluminum design, a woven head strap, a fancy charging case, a rotating crown, and Spatial Audio (one of the first devices to support the feature). In all honesty, Apple doesn’t really NEED to refresh the AirPods Max because feature-for-feature, they’re just as good today as they were 4 years ago. However, there’s always room for improvement – for example, the AirPods Max doesn’t have an Ultra-Wideband chip that makes them easy to track using Apple’s Find My app, the charging case is one of the most absurd designs ever, and hey, we’re still stuck on Lightning when the AirPods Pro have upgraded to USB-C.

AirTag (2021)

Ah, the AirTags, every clutterbrain and stalker’s best friend. Announced in 2021, the AirTag leverages Apple’s Find My network and their Ultra-Wideband chip to really help you track and detect objects with precise accuracy. They run on CR2032 batteries which last around a year and are easy to replace – a big improvement over some tracking devices that have built-in batteries that can’t be removed. However, the AirTags haven’t seen any update since their announcement in 2021. Now here’s the question again – do they need updating? Well, on the feature front, no… they’re pretty good, have anti-stalking features, and are fairly helpful when it comes to tracking everything from bags, to pets, to even vehicles. However, the one major upgrade they need is on the design front. They’re circular and bulky, which makes them difficult to store in wallets, passport covers, and other slim belongings. Heck, I’d like a slim AirTag just so I could strap it to my Apple TV remote which keeps getting lost every third day.

iPad Mini 6th Gen (2021)

The AirTags weren’t the only product to get left behind in 2021 – Apple hasn’t refreshed the iPad Mini in 3 years either, still leaving it with the A15 Bionic chip while the other iPads get their M-series chips. Now it’s entirely possible that Apple’s held the iPad Mini back all these years deliberately – the people who buy the tiny iPad aren’t Apple’s core tablet users. They don’t need power features, they don’t edit movies on their tablet, and they clearly don’t need their tablet to work as a makeshift laptop with a dedicated keyboard folio case. However, the iPad Mini 6th Gen does support the 2nd Gen Apple Pencil and does have a USB-C port that also works for connecting external displays. The iPad Mini, as small as it is, was built to be a mighty little tablet. However, that A15 Bionic chip doesn’t really compare to the M3 chip that Apple’s due to give its latest iPads this year. Could we also see a better camera system on the iPad Mini if it gets refreshed soon? I surely hope so… but up until then, we’re stuck with the model from 2021.

Bonus – Apple Card (2019)

The Apple Card makes it to this list for purely technical reasons, but truth be told, there’s never any need to update a payments card the way you’d update smartphones and tablets every year. Apple announced the card in 2019 in partnership with Goldman Sachs, but as of 2023 November, Goldman Sachs will stop providing banking support for the card, leaving Apple to look for another partner. As far as the card’s design goes, there’s not much you can upgrade – the Apple Card comes machined from solid titanium, making it highly durable, but it’s still susceptible to scratches or discoloration. Maybe color variants??

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