Technology

Bright Idea: Loss Leaders

By Jeanne Lang Jones August 20, 2015

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Ever find yourself losing things? Two local companies are offering solutions.

Kirkland-based Pebblebee has a $25 tracking device called Honey thats the size of a poker chip and can be attached to things like keys, pet collars and TV remotes so they can be tracked down easily.

Founded by longtime friends and former Boeing engineers Daniel Daoura and Nick Pearson-Franks, Pebblebees Bluetooth-enabled Honey can be located with a finder that operates within a 150-foot range to make the Honey ring or buzz. The Honey can also be made to buzz using an iPhone app.

Pearson-Franks got the inspiration after his toddler son had taken to hiding things around the house. At the time, CEO Daoura and CTO Pearson-Franks were working on wireless communications and sensors for the military at Boeing, and they saw the need for a tracking device that could operate for a long time on a single battery.

This is in our wheelhouse, Daoura recalls telling his friend. Within two weeks, they had a prototype. The two have since raised nearly $220,000 on Kickstarter and had sold more than 100,000 devices as of mid-July.

Pebblebee now has 19 employees and is developing several products for consumers and businesses based on the Honey. Doura says the inclusion of a compass, a temperature sensor and a nine-axis gyroscope enable Pebblebees devices to perform a range of tasks, from tracking a runners pace and determining if a companys inventory is being stored at the proper temperature to playing active games such as boxing on a smartphone.

When it comes to finding lost things, however, sometimes a 150-foot range just wont cut it. For these applications, Redmond-based iTraq uses uses cell tower technology to triangulate a rough location anywhere in the world where cellular service exists. Its tags, which are about the size of a credit card, cost around $50 and can track cars, luggage, even people, says CEO Roman Isakov.

Through mid-July, the company had raised about $312,000 on Indiegogo. It expects to begin shipping its devices this month.

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