
YC-Backed Bluesmart Raises $2M for Its Self-Tracking Suitcase - juandazapata
http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/23/yc-backed-bluesmart-raises-2-million-for-its-self-tracking-suitcase/
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Animats
There are at least a half dozen other suitcase tracking devices. Here's one
you can buy right now: [http://www.amazon.com/Trakdot-Luggage-
Tracker/dp/B00KL3ZA4M](http://www.amazon.com/Trakdot-Luggage-
Tracker/dp/B00KL3ZA4M)

One that connected to Uber might be useful. If your luggage comes in on a
different flight, it automatically calls a Uber slave to deliver it to
wherever you are.

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dfuego
Yes, there are several devices that accomplish the tasks of the individual
features that our product includes. But there were no solution with everything
integrated in one single product. The Uber idea is great. We actually thought
of something similar. Hopefully we can make it happen soon

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dfuego
Here one of the co-founders. Happy to answer any questions about our company
and technology

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DenisM
Are there recurring costs for 3g/4g connectivity? What's the coverage area?

What is "37 Watts lithium ion battery"? Is it 37 watt-hours?

Could I achieve similar tracking ability to dropping an old Android phone into
my suitcase, with a tracking app installed on it? How would this hack fall
short compared to your product's tracking feature?

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dfuego
Initially there will be no additional cost for the basic level service. We
might offer a premium version down the road. Still defining coverage but
aiming to have a practical global coverage. The battery's capacity is 10,000
milliamps per hour. Yes, there are many hacks you can do to achieve a similar
tracking ability. We want to provide a comprehensive solution in which the
location tracking is just a part of it.

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noonespecial
"37 Watts lithium ion battery" is meaningless as a capacity.

As is "10,000 milliamps per hour".

You likely have a 10 amp hour, 3.7 volt battery yielding a capacity of 37 watt
hours. This is about the same capacity as an ordinary smart-phone (perhaps a
bit larger, I think an iphone is 5 or 10ish ).

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dfuego
10,000 mah is the same as 10 amp hour. And that is 6 times what an iPhone has
actually

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amalcon
Those units are very different from milliamps _per_ hour (which is basically a
nonsense unit) and watts (which are a unit of energy per time, therefore
saying nothing about how long the battery will last).

I'm just trying to address the confusion here. Battery capacity is a
relatively mundane detail, and I don't necessarily expect the people writing
marketing copy to understand electrical terminology.

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brianch
By the way, we will be hiring soon. Check out our jobs page:
[http://bluesmart.com/pages/jobs](http://bluesmart.com/pages/jobs)

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jasimq
Maybe I missed something, but how does the suitcase communicate with your
services? Isn't it limited by bluetooth range?

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dfuego
It's not just Bluetooth. We will be publishing the details of our full
tracking solution soon

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jasimq
It'll be interesting to know. You can't make calls from the plane to transmit
location. You can however, do it when you detect the luggage has landed, based
on altitude and/or airport coordinates.

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dfuego
That's correct. Stay tuned, we'll release technical details in a blog post
soon. Thanks for the feedback

