Hey, look, brazen imitation is not really a sin if it lets you experience something good for cheap. If you are worried sick about losing your luggage, or have a solo-trip-loving pet, Apple sells you an AirTag for a modest Rs. 3,490 a pop. For the rest of us without a rich daddy, Jio has just introduced the JioTag.
The design is nothing worth writing home about. But, this thing costs just Rs. 749, so, suck it with your refined aesthetic palette. It's clean, white, and looks like any run-of-the-mill object tracker. Worried about a misplaced phone? Just tap twice on the JioTag and it will ring your phone.
It can be detected within a 20-meter range indoors, but if you are outdoors, the range goes up to 50 meters as long as you are in a straight-line view of the tracker. That's odd, but whatever works. The tiny thingmajig weighs just 1o grams, but if you're a high-fashion connoisseur, you will be disappointed to know that the JioTag only comes in white.
Keep forgetting wallets and keys? Just attach a JioTag to it, and every time you go out of range, your phone will remind you of your forgetful ways. The companion app will also show you the location where your gear (with a JioTag attached) last went out of range.
Now, let's talk connectivity. While the world moves toward advanced technologies like Ultra-Wideband (UWB), JioTag prefers to remain loyal to the ancient Bluetooth v5.1 technology. Taking a leaf out of Apple and Google's object location network, Jio has developed something called Jio Community Find.
In the simplest of terms, if any device logged in to Jio's network comes in the Bluetooth range of your lost luggage with a JioTag on it, you will be alerted about the location. Pretty standard stuff so far. Powering the JioTag is a CR2032 battery that is user replaceable and lasts for a year.
Lastly, privacy takes a special place in JioTag's heart. With their ambiguous data handling practices and vague privacy policies, you'll never quite know who's getting their hands on your personal information. It's like a mysterious dance of uncertainty, where your data becomes the star and you become the unwilling audience. Bravo, JioTag, for giving us a parody we never knew we didn't need!