Samsonite has unveiled new Track&Go technology which will be built into branded suitcases from the end of the year.
The bluetooth beacon technology uses Eddystone Ephemeral Identifiers, an open privacy/security protocol developed by Google, and will work in conjunction with the Travlr by Samonsite app, allowing users to check the location of their suitcase within a 70 metre radius.
Should the suitcase go missing the traveller can flag it as lost, which will then prompt the app to use its database of users to help locate the baggage – any app user passing within 70 metres of the suitcase will trigger a location notification to be sent out to the suitcase’s owner.
Samonsite admits that the success of the technology will depend on the size of the community using the Travlr app, and says that “An important next step will be collaborating with airports and baggage handling companies to grow the network of fixed Bluetooth beacons in the vicinity of important travel hubs”.
The technology will launch in a Track&Go-branded suitcase at the end of 2016, and Samsonite says that “given the potential of this solution, Track&Go might be extended to a broader range of business and travel bags in 2017”.
Mark Caswell
