Keys that can tell you where you left them

IT IS the perfect solution for the forgetful: a door key with a built-in beacon to help you find it.

Thanks to a tie-up with Apple, British brand Ultion’s new KeyTag, pictured, can be tracked from a smartphone, tablet or website.

It looks like a normal key, but its bigger head houses a batterypowered transmitter.

Adopting Apple’s ‘Find My’ technology, which was developed to locate misplaced iPhones, when linked to the KeyTag it can either trigger an alarm or reveal the key’s location on a map. You can even ask Apple’s built-in smart assistant Siri: ‘Where are my keys?’

Privacy controls ensure the location is not stored on the device or by Ultion and Apple, and is shared only with the owner. KeyTag works with the millions of locks already fitted by the firm, a British rival to US market leader Yale.

A feature of Ultion’s locks is that a homeowner can have the same £39 key for every door in their house. Nick Dutton, chief executive of Ultion’s owner Brisant Secure, based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, said: ‘We found many customers would lose their keys and order multiple replacements.

‘Not only is that annoying for them and a security concern, the costs can build up over time.

‘We were also conscious about consumers becoming app-weary, so the advantage of using Apple’s Find My network is the software is already baked into its products, such as the iPhone and iPad so there’s no need to have to download yet another application. Every KeyTag is completely bespoke and carries a unique code.’