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Nope, still can't find them. Skullcandy slips Tile's gadget-tracking hardware into individual earbuds

Although perhaps your lockdown digs are tidier than ours

Audio kit flinger Skullcandy has embedded Tile's gadget-tracking tech to help you skin your knuckles fishing out its latest all-wireless earbuds from under the well beneath your handbrake.

The idea is to make it easier for punters to find stray earbuds after they somehow escape their ear canals, or otherwise fall out of the charging case.

The tech will appear on Skullcandy's latest wireless 'buds: the Push Ultra, Indy Evo, Indy Fuel, and Sesh Evo – all of which sport product names that sound like nicknames for cider-swilling lads on a university rugby team. I don't know you, Indy Fuel, but I'm sure you've got top banter.

Tile is best known as a hardware manufacturer. Its bread and butter has long been its After Eight-sized plastic chits you slip in your wallet, or attach to your car keys, allowing you to easily find them when they're buried within the couch.

But in recent years, it has embarked on an ambitious process of repositioning itself as a component provider to other vendors, allowing third parties to integrate Tile's tech in their own products. And they've already managed to score some important wins here, with Sennheiser, Skullcandy, and HP all signing deals.

This effort has been bolstered by a steady flow of VC funding, with the firm raising $45m last June in a Series C, bringing the grand total to $104m.

That emphasis on integrations might allow the firm to weather competition from Apple, which is rumoured to be working on its own gadget-tracking hardware, as well as pressure from smaller rivals like Europe's Chipolo. ®

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