Google might just be developing its very own location tracking device to compete with Apple’s AirTag. The device has been codenamed Grogu.
By Divyanshi Sharma: Apple’s AirTag feature has proven to be a saviour for its users, especially for the ones who often struggle with finding their devices. The ‘Find My Feature’ app lets you seamlessly track your devices’ location and helps you to retrieve them in case they get lost. And now, Google might just be developing its very own location tracking device, which has been codenamed Grogu, Groguaudio or GR10.
Google’s location tracking device
According to a developer and reliable leaker Kuba Wojciechowski, Google is working around a way to incorporate location tracking in Fast Pair, which is the tech giant’s new means for quick pairing of nearby Bluetooth devices. Fast Pair is supported by any Android device running on Android 6 or later versions.
“I have recently found references that show that Google’s working on support for locator tags in Fast Pair,” Wojciechowski wrote on Twitter.
Reportedly being developed by the Google Nest team, the tracker’s codename Grogu comes from Star Wars’ baby Yoda character.
Wojciechowski further adds that the tracker might be available in various colours and will also include a speaker, helping users to locate their missing devices with the help of sound. Rings a bell? Yes, Apple’s AirTag offers the same feature.
“It has an onboard speaker, similar to AirTags. It should come in a few different colours (although I don’t know any specifics at this time). There seems to be support for UWB as well as Bluetooth Low Energy,” wrote Wojciechowski on Twitter.
When will the product be announced?
While Wojciechowski doesn’t have a sure-shot timeline for the product’s announcement, he says that it may be launched during the Google I/O Developer Conference that will happen in May this year. The exact dates of the event have not yet been announced. Wojciechowski also wrote that the trackers could be released along with new Pixel devices during a Google event.
“I don’t have any information regarding the release timeframe of the tag, but if I had to guess I’d say Google’s gonna announce the technology at Google I/O and then launch it at the annual fall event, alongside new Google Pixel devices,” he wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Google-backed delivery platform, Dunzo, was recently in the news for deciding to fire 3 per cent of its workforce. The Bangaluru-based start-up operates in the same space as Blinkit, Swiggy, and WeFast. It is an on-demand delivery platform, allowing people to order anything that they need from the comfort of their homes. The decision to lay off employees at Dunzo is a part of their cost-cutting measures. The company’s CEO and Co-Founder Kabeer Biswas, while talking to CNBC-TV 18, had said that the company is extending ‘the best support possible’ to help employees during this tough time.
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