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back to article A black box for your SUITCASE: Now your lost luggage can phone home – quite literally

Trakdot is a little device you hide in your suitcase so that if an airline loses your luggage, you can, in theory, find it. Inside is a SIM card with a global roaming agreement, and the necessary electronics to connect to GSM mobile networks. As the aeroplane trundles down the runway, the gadget uses an accelerometer to detect …

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  1. a1exh

    No real market

    I used to manufacture a similar product in 2004. Ours were made from recycled mobile phone parts and a custom build of nokiaOS. We had two form factors, a CD-changer for the boot of you car and a shaver for your luggage. Our GPS & GSM aerials worked when the devices were in place no problem. They were very simple. Send it a txt msg and it sent you back the GPS coordinates. Being old skool devices they went days if not weeks without a charge.

    When we found it hard to sell these, we tried offering recycled phones which could plug into your heating system so you could switch your heating on/off with a txt msg. Phones which could connect to your home alarm system so you got a txt msg when your alarm went off. Even alarms with cameras which would send you a picture message of the intruded zone.

    However even with our bare materials being practically free we couldn't turn a profit enough to pay the salaries of two engineers and closed in 2005.

    It's almost impossible to break into this market.

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    1. RDW
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      Re: No real market

      The only problem I see with this is that the black box will cost slightly more than the usual contents of my checked luggage...

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  2. Vociferous

    £80 to find out my luggage is in Manila?

    Why?

    Cats and cars need tracking technology, but luggage?

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  4. Tsunamijuan

    I would make use of this or similar tech

    I could see this as being convenient for large high expensive shipped items. Camera equipment or other technology that you need to make sure they reach their said destinations. Even logistics wise for things like live sound companies and touring bands. It would be better at that point if you could have a grouped charge for such things so you could have a large number of devices sharing a phone number. But reporting their individual UID's so you could track to make sure they are all correctly in route or at the location you need ahead of time. As well as simplify the annoyance of trying to figure out where stuff ended up. Ie the wrong venue.

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    1. browntomatoes
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      Re: I would make use of this or similar tech

      For larger/more expensive equipment (eg camera equipment which is too big to put in hand luggage) I think people end up using dedicated shippers like UPS or FedEx to take care of it rather than checking it on commercial flights (except in certain situations where it's not possible, eg film crew dispatched to breaking news event). The shipping companies are just much, much better at this than airlines and at some point the additional cost becomes a small expense worth paying. No thieving/careless baggage handlers to worry about, you can put it all in a proper sturdy box without worrying about size/weight limitations, they take care of customs issues for you (you can get something called a carnet - sort of like a passport for goods - which means no awkward conversations about paying duty) and they'll give you guaranteed arrival timescales. Plus the benefits of "traveling light" at the airport.

      For the average holidaymaker, the best advice is pack less stuff and put your valuables/breakables in hand luggage (go hand luggage only if you can) plus one change of clothes. Then it gets reduced to an insurance exercise.

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  5. Herby

    What is really needed

    Is an RFID chip for every piece of luggage. Installed at a common place (like under the handle, embedded in the side of the case). Then the airport monkeys can scan these in addition to the flimsy paper tags that are attached to your bad. If you register your bag properly, it can be scanned and located much like a lost cat (or other animal).

    If course the airlines would need to do some work, but data is getting cheaper to shuffle around, so it should be pretty easy. RFID tags are less than a buck a piece, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

    Will it happen? I doubt it, it would be too logical.

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    1. Charles 9
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      Re: What is really needed

      Tag chips aren't that big these days. The one for pets is about as big as a grain of rice. Perhaps a manufacturer can use this as a selling point: an RFID embedded in the handle with a 64-bit UID (20 for the manufacturer, 44 for a serial number). Especially now with more phones containing RFID readers.

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      1. I like noodles
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        Re: What is really needed

        The Handle?

        That only ensures you'd get part of your luggage back and leave you in the same situation as Rhod Gilbert.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OISGykO6Z7U

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        1. Charles 9
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          Re: What is really needed

          If they're THAT nasty, it doesn't matter WHERE you put it. Some idiot takes the whole bloody case, there's little hope for you. Remember, we're not talking about preventing theft of the case and/or its contents. We're simply talking about a better way of keeping track of it as it moves out of your sight. The handle is just the most convenient location because EVERY suitcase has a handle.

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  6. spiny norman

    Could be useful

    My son's luggage got lost on a flight from JFK to Birmingham via Paris. Flybe, who operated the CDG-BHX flight, were less than helpful. After several days a Delta customer services rep from the US got involved and asked WTF they were playing at. A couple of hours later, the case magically reappeared. We suspect it was in the airport all the time, they just couldn't be bothered to look.

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