Airbus Unveils Prototype iPhone-Enabled Smart Luggage

Airplane manufacturer Airbus has previewed an iPhone-enabled smart luggage prototype called 'Bag2Go' that uses a number of new technologies to help airlines and flyers keep track of baggage, reports Australian Business Traveler.

The bags include RFID chips for next-generation airline baggage handling and a barcode that syncs with an iPhone app that includes a 'Find My Bag' feature that hooks into airline databases to give you up-to-the-minute data on the bags location. They also have a digital scale built into the handle of the bag that talks to the iPhone's app.

Flyers simply lift up on the handle and the digital scale makes sure the bag is beneath an airline's weight limit. The airline believes the bags would cost some 20% more than comparable 'dumb' bags.

Bag2go

Christened 'Bag2Go', the concept has been developed in partnership with mobile carrier T-Mobile and German luggage maker Rimowa.

An RFID chip inside the bag lets it work with the increasing number of automated airport and airline baggage-handling systems which can 'pair' smartchipped bagtags with your itinerary and frequent flyer number.

A barcode on the bag’s trip-specific label syncs it against your iPhone and can be passed on to your airline booking.

Airbus says it would not sell the bags directly but could license the technology to partner airlines.

Top Rated Comments

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parish

76 months ago

Shame you have to put your iPhone in Airplane mode in flight or you could track you bags flying from JFK to LAX - as you fly JFK to LHR :p

Rating: 7 Votes

thepowerofnone

76 months ago

Why knock this? If you don't like it then don't buy it obviously, however having flown quite a bit and had bags lost on multiple occasions this certainly appeals to me. Its a natural progression of technology as part of a much bigger picture: previously dumb objects are getting smarter and easier to track. I like progress. Even if it comes at a (fairly small) premium. You're on an Apple rumour website - you are clearly pretty used to paying a premium for a few extras. And the digital scale is pretty handy too.

Rating: 6 Votes

Popeye206

76 months ago

I travel a lot and something like this would be awesome. Just a couple weeks ago... standing in JFK waiting for my bag to come down the carousel... waiting and waiting only to have the bad luck that my bad was last to be offloaded. So, all that time of waiting getting more and more nervous my bag didn't make it. With the tracker I would have known it was there and I would have been able to relax until I tracked it closer to the belt. I would have loved that!

However... I'd rather just have something I could put in any bag I got that would allow me to track it. Not just a specific bag.

Rating: 4 Votes

nostaws

76 months ago

I fly a few times a year, so you're right I don't need to make an investment in great luggage.

However, my father-in-law and a few siblings literally fly multiple times a week as part of their jobs. They would love something like this. And a $100 suitcase can't put up with their weekly itinerary.

One has to be silly to pay even more for something that gets thrown about by baggage handlers. A piece of luggage should be cheap and one should be happy if it lasts a couple of years. Whoever pays more than $100 for a piece of luggage is insane regardless of what the luggage may offer.

Rating: 3 Votes

Canyonero

76 months ago

If it only costs 20% more I'd get one.

20 % more than the current price tag of Rimowa luggages which range from $300-1000.

Rating: 2 Votes

afro-ninja

76 months ago

"Oh, no! Honey, we didn't charge the luggage!"

Rating: 2 Votes

AppleMark

76 months ago

Why would I buy new luggage and spend 20% more to help an airline track my bag? They have managed reasonably well since 1919.

If somebody steals the luggage, then I am guessing it will be as useless as 'find my phone', if you need the police to track and recover the bag.

Rating: 1 Votes

ArcaneDevice

76 months ago

Why would I buy new luggage and spend 20% more to help an airline track my bag? They have managed reasonably well since 1919.

Well for one you wouldn't have to anxiously stand at the carousel with your fingers crossed hoping that with every minute you don't see your bag that it actually arrived at the same destination.

Like, you know, people have done since 1919.

Being able to track package deliveries yourself has become very useful. I'm kind of used to the idea of not just having to hope something turns up just because that's how it used to be.

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Why knock this? If you don't like it then don't buy it obviously, however having flown quite a bit and had bags lost on multiple occasions this certainly appeals to me.

Same here.

I'd rather rely on my own incompetency than that of others. When one of my bags doesn't turn up at least I wouldn't have to wait another day or week for someone else to get their act together.

Rating: 1 Votes