Update [July 2, 2014]:
The iFind Kickstarter campaign has come to a halt as Kickstarter officially suspended it on July 27, 2014 after having raised nearly US$500k, which was even more money raised than its goal. Although Kickstarter has not issued an official statement of the suspension, the speculated reason by many publications and the public was that it’s nothing more than a fraud meant to steal money from unsuspecting backers due to the unfeasibility of its technology.
Kickstarter contacted iFind backers, notifying them that their pledges were cancelled.
Meanwhile, WeTag announced on Facebook to say that its product is not a scam, and will continue to pursue the project. The team made the decision to cancel the project though, after being encountered by the “negative publicity”.
Misplacing your belongings can be frustrating. The hours spent finding the misplaced items can be even more infuriating for the souls as you think of how the time can be utilized more productively.
iFind, the World’s First Battery Free Item Location Tag, helps you ease the pain by saving you the time and frustration of trying to locate your misplaced item. Plus, your mental brain is also liberated from intense thoughts of “where did I last put it?”
Item-locating hardware devices in the market, like iFind, ideally aim to aid you in the misadventure of finding back your misplaced items. All these by connecting to an app on your mobile phone.
Sounds easy enough?
However, what makes iFind stand out from the crowd is that it requires absolutely no battery to function.
Developed by WeTag, iFind collects its power from ambient electromagnetic sources, such as Wi-Fi transmitters or mobile phone antennas. The power attained can be converted into enough electrical currents and stored in a power bank in iFind, which simulates a battery that continually supports a Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy (BLE) radio.
Simply turn on the bluetooth on your mobile phone and connect to iFind, download the iFind app and enter the tag ID to start enabling location tagging.
In the case of misplacing your item tagged with iFind, open up the iFind app on your mobile phone to start locating the item. The tag would then let off beeping sound upon detection.
And, if you lose your phone, no worries. Shake the iFind tag and your mobile phone will ring. It goes both ways!
What is more – iFind comes in a dainty, square-like tag (32 x 27 x 2.4mm) with various stylish colors for users to choose from to attach it to your personal items. The maximum range from your mobile phone to the tag is approximately 60 meters within line of sight, or 50 ft depending on the environmental conditions.
The WeTag team spent one good year developing iFind and the results has been rewarding. First launched in Kickstarter, the team has since raised over US$200,000. The first shipment of iFind tags can be expected at sometime October this year.
Was that supposed to read 30 meters or 500 ft? 50 yards?
This is bunkum bordering on a scam. There is no chance of getting any significant power from ambient RF, certainly not enough to power a BLE device with a buzzer. Keep your money.
That they solved a “holy grail” of the internet of things (battery less power) & still need to go to kick starter to get funding feels very suspicious.