French tech startup Wistiki late Thursday presented new high-tech devices to track down lost items from your smartphone, produced in collaboration with renowned designer Philippe Starck.

Wistiki, founded last year, is known for its small tiles that can be attached to items that are constantly misplaced — a set of keys or a purse, for example.

These lost items can then be tracked down via Bluetooth on an app that works on Apple and Android smartphones.

Bruno Lussato, one of the three brothers behind the company, held a San Francisco press conference to showcase the new line of gadgets, which include a slim card that fits inside a wallet and a medallion-shaped tag for a pet's collar.

If any of these items are lost they can be tracked down via the smartphone app, with a find radius of about 100 meters.

The new gadgets can be pre-ordered via the Indiegogo crowd-funding website, for delivery in March 2016.

Award-winning designer Starck is known for, among other things, designing Apple founder Steve Jobs's yacht, as well as high-end hotel and restaurant interiors and more humble items like furniture and thermostats.

Starck, who was supposed to be at the event but instead was stuck in South America, may have benefitted from using a Wistiki device.

"He lost his passport, he's still in Ecuador," Lussato said.

Fossil buys Misfit in push for connected wearables
Washington (AFP) Nov 13, 2015 –

US watchmaking group Fossil is acquiring the wearable tech firm Misfit for $260 million as it ramps up efforts for connected watches and other gadgets.

The deal announced late Thursday gives Fossil, which sells in some 150 counties, a tech platform created by former Microsoft researcher Sonny Vu and onetime Apple chief executive John Sculley.

"We have a significant opportunity to add technology and connectivity across our platform of watches and accessories," said Kosta Kartsotis, chief executive of Fossil Group.

"With the acquisition of Misfit, Fossil Group will be uniquely positioned to lead the convergence of style and technology and to become the fashion gateway to the high-growth wearable technology and connected device markets."

The news comes amid a rush into wearables led by Apple, Samsung and other tech companies seeking to get in on the new lifestyle trend.

The move will allow Fossil to "own a technology platform that has already solved many of the hardest problems in wearables, including battery life," according to a statement by the two firms.

It will enable Fossil to create a line of smartwatches, fitness trackers and other wearables. Vu will become president and chief technology officer of connected devices for Fossil Group upon completion of the deal.

"We fundamentally believe consumers care about both technical functionality and fashionable design. In fact, one without the other is simply not enough," said Greg McKelvey, chief strategy and digital officer of Fossil.