American luggage manufacturer Samsonite will launch Track&Go – a sophisticated beacon device that can be built into Samsonite suitcases – in the European market at the end of 2016, followed by other international markets, allowing business travellers the chance to track their luggage easily.
Using Eddystone Ephemeral Identifiers (EIDs) – an open privacy/security protocol by Google – the Bluetooth beacon, which has been designed and manufactured by Accent Systems, will be built into the Track&Go suitcase. It has to be registered by the owner through the Travlr by Samsonite app, which offers flight tracking, tips and reminders when travelling. The new Track&Go feature will soon be built into the existing app, allowing users to easily check the location of the suitcase within a distance of 70 meters, and also be notified if it is being moved further away from the user.
“We’re excited to work with Google on this project to make sure that our beacons support Eddystone EIDs,” says Ramesh Tainwala, CEO of Samsonite. “Missing or permanently lost luggage is the nightmare of every traveller. As the world’s largest luggage manufacturer, we wanted to find a way to make this issue a thing of the past. As Samsonite is known for its innovative and reliable luggage and bags, we also wanted to work with an equally as innovative and reliable technology partner. By leveraging Google’s robust, secure and cross-platform approach, we feel confident that our customers will welcome this new solution.”
Should the suitcase go missing, the owner can easily flag it as lost in the app. Once flagged as ‘lost’, the app leverages its user base to help the suitcase’s owner find it. Should anyone else, using the app, pass within 70 meters of the lost suitcase, an EID-based signal is picked up. This triggers a notification with location and time details of the suitcase to be sent out to the owner. Thus, Samsonite reduces travel stress thanks to a community of app users that can assist each other in locating and retrieving missing suitcases anonymously and securely. www.samsonite.com