"Found My Galaxy Buds+ After Bluetooth Disconnection" User Praises Greatly

Samsung Electronics' 'SmartThings Find' Registers to Locate Lost Earbud
Location Check Possible Even Offline... Displays Real-Time Location

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] College student Kim Junho (24) recently lost one side of his Galaxy Buds+ earphones at an academy. He searched everywhere the earphones might have been but to no avail. Kim was even more frustrated because he was using the 'SmartThings Find' app, which has a feature that shows the location of registered wireless earphones. The problem was that the location shown by the app kept changing. Later, he found out that the lost earphone had fallen inside the academy's van. Kim said, "The reason the earphone location on the app's map kept changing was because the van was moving. If it weren't for SmartThings Find technology, I would never have found it," expressing relief.

According to the industry on the 3rd, as losing one side of wireless earphones has become frequent, services that provide real-time location guidance for lost devices are gaining popularity. Samsung Electronics recently launched 'SmartThings Find.' SmartThings Find is a service that uses low-energy Bluetooth technology (BLE) and ultra-wideband (UWB) technology to show the device's location even when the connection is lost.

This is a step forward from Samsung Electronics' 'Find My Mobile' service, which shows the location when a phone is lost. Find My Mobile only shows the last network connection location of the smartphone, but SmartThings Find displays the location of devices that have lost network or Bluetooth connection in real-time on a map. A Samsung Electronics official explained, "When a device loss is reported via the SmartThings app, devices near the reported device send location information to the SmartThings server."

Wireless earphones are small and thus have a high risk of being lost. On secondhand trading communities, posts selling one side of wireless earphones or just the case separately are frequently posted. According to an analysis by Junggonara, there were 22,000 posts last year about losing one side of wireless earphones and buying or selling them.

Wireless earphones have become essential smartphone accessories, and demand for upgrading to high-performance and premium devices is steady. Due to the economic downturn, the smartphone replacement cycle is lengthening, but more consumers are opening their wallets for affordable wireless earphones. According to market research firm Canalys, wireless earphone shipments in 2021 are expected to increase by 39% compared to this year, reaching 350 million units.

As demand for wireless earphones grows, location tracking services are also gaining attention. Samsung Electronics has been developing related services since 2018 by forming a task force (TF) to apply ultra-wideband (UWB) technology to various products. UWB technology was installed in the Galaxy Note20 and Galaxy Z Fold2, and in the future, this technology will be used to introduce 'digital key' services that can replace house keys or car keys. Apple is also developing 'AirTag,' an accessory that can be attached to devices or products without communication functions to track their location.

According to the Bluetooth SIG, the Bluetooth standard organization, shipments of location tracking service devices are expected to grow from 186 million units this year to 538 million units by 2024.