Jaguar Land Rover reveals Bluetooth tracking system

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Jaguar Land Rover is offering something pretty clever: If you've lost something, a new Bluetooth tracking system in your car can now tell you where it is.

Most of us spend a lot of time in our cars, and most of us have become reliant on our stuff, phones, tablets and more. But when you're in the car, and realized you forgot some of your stuff - oops.

"If you've lost it, the car can now tell you it's missing, where it is and how to find it," said Jeff Holland, a spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover USA.

It is part of Jaguar Land Rover's Bluetooth system called InControl Apps. Small digital tiles are paired with the system and then attached to items you tend to carry with you. You also pair your phone to the system, just as you would with any other Bluetooth-equipped vehicle.

The car can then take an electronic inventory of what's supposed to be inside. If you forgot to bring something along, you can figure out where you left it.

"A Jaguar or Land Rover buyer, in other words a premium car buyer, tends to have a lot of important devices. And it can be pretty stressful when you're missing something, but finding them is something this system can help you do," added Holland.

It's not a new idea for a car company. Several years ago, Ford came out with a system called Tool Link for its commercial vehicles. It gave contractors and other mobile businesses the ability to make a quick checklist of which important tools were or were not inside their van or pickup. Ford no longer offers Tool Link, however.

The Tile App is something you can add to any mobile phone, using the phone itself to keep track of where your things are. But if you're phone is what is missing, the InConrol version of the Tile App can keep track of your phone, as well as the devices you've attached the Tiles to.

There are a couple of downsides. First, the system is initially exclusive to Land Rover and Jaguar models starting with model year 2016. Those are not inexpensive vehicles (the least expensive model - the Land Rover Discovery Sport - has a base price of just under $40,000), but other car brands could eventually offer the Tile system or something similar.

The Tile devices themselves only last about a year before the non-replaceable sealed battery dies. When that happens, each Tile itself has to be replaced at a cost of $15 to $25 each, depending on how many you buy.

But if you're someone who's always forgetting things when you hit the road, this could be a bit of very useful tech.