Tile partners with chipmakers to embed its location tracking services from the start

Tile wants its tracking tech to be embedded in every gadget you own, so it’s going straight to the source and partnering with some of the biggest chipmakers out there. The company is teaming up with Bluetooth Low Energy chipmakers, including Qualcomm, Dialog Semiconductor, Silicon Labs, and Toshiba, to include Tile compatibility as an option when gadget makers come to them during the production process. Basically, opting into the Tile network will be as easy as selecting a box at the start of production.

This is a big step forward from what Tile announced last year. Back then, Tile began partnering with companies like Boosted and Bose to build support for its tracking network into their products. That allowed owners of those gadgets to rely on Tile’s mesh network to track their lost items. Tile also announced new partnerships today with Sennheiser, Sol Republic, Plantronics, and Anker’s SoundCore, which will all build Tile functionality into their products this year.

Tile wants to become the default platform for tracking your stuff, regardless of whether you’ve ever bought a tiny Tile tracker. The more items that are connected to its mesh network, the more it can effectively track lost things. It needs to get in on the ground level because negotiating partnerships with every company in the world, in addition to retrofitting gadgets, isn’t necessarily a sustainable path forward.