CES: Never Lose Anything Again

Wireless trackers aren’t new. At the high end are GPS- and cellular-equipped collars for pets, such as Tagg. Lower down are clunky beacons that sound an alarm when keys or other objects stray out of Bluetooth wireless range (in other words, get left behind).

But BiKN, made by Treehouse Labs and debuting at CES, is especially versatile — in both the number of items it tracks and how well it tracks them. And this product (pronounced "beacon") is just a toe in the water for a company looking to install smart sensors on virtually anything. A wireless transceiver is tucked into a slim, good-looking case for the iPhone 4 and 4s. It pairs with up to eight wireless dongles (called tags) that look a bit like key chains. They link to the iPhone over a wireless standard inelegantly called 802.15.4.


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