Use a tile to locate your stolen bicycle

A new postage stamp-sized digital tag called a tile promises to help find lost or stolen keys, laptops, handbags or even bicycles.

Each tile can be attached to almost any personal possession, costs about £12 and lasts a year before it needs to be recycled and replaced.

Using its accompanying app and an Apple device, a tile can be located within a 50m range. A built-in speaker allows the tile to chirrup so you can easily hear it when you get within close range. Furthermore, the app saves the last GPS location it saw your tile.

The ‘whole world’ looking for your lost bike

The really clever part happens if you mark your tile as lost; without realising they are doing it, the entire tile community searches for your item and you automatically receive a text with its location if anyone passes within 50m.

Traditional cycle insurance

When millions of us use tiles, it promises to be quick, easy and cheap to recover lost and stolen items. Until then, many cyclists will stick with a conventional insurance policy. A good one will cover against theft, accidental damage, vandalism, third party liability of at least £5m.

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