Author Topic: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags  (Read 41780 times)

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Offline Alterego

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #50 on: July 02, 2013, 07:44:46 pm »
Thanks for the response and reviews. Since you have been so much in touch with similar BLE tags and devices for tracking and location, I would request you to please do a comparative review of all leading similar devices especially with android compatibility, whenever it is easily possible for you.

Would be of great help to the community in general and people like me who are searching for the best bang for the buck.

Thanks

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 

Offline Alterego

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #51 on: July 10, 2013, 03:32:15 pm »
So I was able to a little reading on various types of card thin and coin like BLE tags available from various companies.

Personally i conclude that design-wise sticknfind is a good idea, only if implemented and executed properly. In almost all of the other commercial or crowd funded products I have "till now" , there was either buzzer or LED light and not the combination of two, or either they were meant specifically for iOS and not compatible with Android.

If the customer gripes are heard the Android app and the build quality of the product is improved then I may think of getting them. One thing not seen in any of them including sticknfind is a vibration alert (like you have in cell phones when they are silent). The vibration alert is also a neat thing to add, to give the user haptic feedback in case light or buzzing sound is not wanted at any particular occasion. It is even present in a discontinued Jabra Bluetooth Headset BT5020, which is still my favorite and I own two of them and always am on the lookout for more. The headset vibrates in case the user is unable to respond to the calls when the mobile is silent.

I can understand that there maybe technical and design challenges to add vibration alert to such BLE tags, however it can be an idea for future implementation.

Would be nice if cybergibbons updates his reviews and critical analysis of Sticknfind to a ppint when it becomes bearable and usable, there still are contradicting reviews of this product on Amazon (dont know whether it is paid biased feedback or not).

Any further suggestions and discussion is always welcome to add to the collective knowledge of everyone reading this thread.
 

Offline bluskyline21

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #52 on: July 23, 2013, 08:12:30 pm »
I don't understand why there are people here criticizing others for disliking Sticknfind. We're all entitled to our opinions and no one is more valuable than the other. If SnF works great for you, then awesome! You are a very small percentage of backers that have found success with the product. I, like so many others, have not had success with SnF and it's irritating. I received mine in March, I believe, and they still don't work with my phone, which IS BLE-compatible. We all have our reasons for disliking the product and the company and it isn't anyone's job to bash others for it. There doesn't have to be an "agenda" just because someone speaks their truth. The company has misled thousands of users with vague advertising and people are upset. Get over it.
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #53 on: October 26, 2013, 08:44:43 am »
So, finally StickNFind responded on Indiegogo and agreed to replace the stickers I have. It's very frustrating that they shut down all communication before.

Since the last update, the following appears to have happpened:
* If you update to iOS 7 without installing the latest StickNFind app and connecting to the stickers in iOS 6, you lost communication with the stickers. There is some secret way of fixing it that isn't published (the "magic sticker" mentioned below?). This was communicate to the users the day after iOS 7 was released.
* Android BLE still isn't working - there are bugs. The communication from StickNFind is quite aggressive about this - they just seem to want to pin the blame on Google and not keep customers informed.
* Communication, on the whole, is still very very bad.

I’ve had my replacement stickers for about 10 days now and have the following to report:

* 3 out of 4 would pair with my iPhone 5 running iOS 7.
* The remaining one wouldn't pair with a Samsung S4 or an iPad 3 running iOS6. Support is sending me a “magic sticker” to fix it.
* The new stickers have a stamped FCC ID on the case.
* The battery contacts are different – the centre one is sprung instead of just being a solder dot.

As for use:

* The three working stickers are more responsive than the old ones. They take ~30s to respond and seem to reliably respond. The old ones sometimes took 30s, sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes never.
* The range is still low. I can’t really leave a sticker downstairs and go upstairs without losing signal.
* When in leash mode, I get random activations even with the devices within a few feet.
* One of the tags seems to randomly go off without being on leash mode.

So in summary:

* It’s odd that one sticker was sent being incompatible with iOS 7 and needs fixing. (honestly, I am dubious – why wouldn’t it work with iOS 6 or Android if this was the case?)
* Why are these “magic stickers” not mentioned anywhere on the support pages?
* Responsiveness is improved
* Reliability is improved
* Range still seems poor

I couldn't recommend buying them still.
 

Offline Legit-Design

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  • Posts: 562
Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #54 on: October 26, 2013, 09:27:53 pm »
So, finally StickNFind responded on Indiegogo and agreed to replace the stickers I have. It's very frustrating that they shut down all communication before.

I couldn't recommend buying them still.
Average business doesn’t hear from 96% of unhappy customers.
For every one complaint received, there are 24 people with unvoiced problems, six of which are serious.
Seems quite plausible this is the case.
In addition to those numbers, I wonder how many customers will just sit silent after they have been shut down many times and refused replacements. Too bad for them you decided to make some noise about it.
 

Offline notzippy

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  • Posts: 50
Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #55 on: October 28, 2013, 06:39:21 pm »
I got a set of replacement stickers some time ago as well - they are currently still in the boxes as I am still waiting for an android device to work with them. I tested the original set against a friends iPhone and they never paired with that device. I even went as far as getting a USB BTLE device and I could actually detect the buttons on that device so it has to be a communication issue. Anyways I am sure there are a bunch of android users who have never even tried the things yet

It is all pretty depressing, (but not as bad as the iControlpad2)

nz
 


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