Hands on: Cobra Tag lets you find lost keys with your phone

By JR Raphael (@jr_raphael)

Are you the kind of person who's always misplacing keys or leaving stuff behind? A new gadget called Cobra Tag uses your phone to keep tabs on your valuables -- and keep you from losing your mind.

Cobra Tag is a small gizmo that looks like a keychain. You put it on your keys or anything else you're prone to losing (laptop, briefcase, children, etc), then establish a Bluetooth link between the device and your Android phone. Cobra Tag also works with BlackBerry handsets.

Once connected, a free Cobra Tag app watches the distance between your phone and the device. If the two become separated by more than 30 feet, it sounds an alarm to let you know you've left your valuables behind (or the dingo ate your baby -- either way, cause for concern).

So what if you don't notice the alert? That's where Cobra Tag gets smart: The app automatically logs the device's GPS coordinates and the exact time at which it became separated from your phone. That data is stored within the app itself. You can also configure the app to text or email the info out to certain people (e.g. you, the San Francisco PD) -- or, if you really aren't messing around, you can even have the app post the details directly to Facebook or Twitter.

You can manually initiate the device's alarm from your phone, too. And conversely, if you have the Cobra Tag device but can't find your phone, you can press a button on the gadget to sound a satisfyingly shrieky alarm on your handset.

Cobra promises seven days' worth of use per charge; the device plugs into any standard USB port or adaptor to get its electronic juice.

In my tests, Cobra Tag worked as advertised and was relatively easy to use. My only major gripe was that the Android app, best I can tell, is impossible to exit; it's designed to run in the background, of course, but its creators appear to have forgotten to include an option to quit the program when you're finished using it. I had to resort to force-closing the app in the Android operating system to get it to stop. Not cool.

That aside, Cobra Tag struck me as a novel item for the absent-minded among us. Its two-way communications and tracking system could certainly save the day by preventing that panicked "where the hell did I put that?"-style search we've all experienced. 

If it were priced at $25 and sold alongside smartphones in stores, I could see the Cobra Tag flying off the shelves. Cobra Tag costs a cool 60 bucks, though -- not necessarily outrageous, depending on your perspective, but probably a bit too steep for the average casual consumer to consider.

You can find the Cobra Tag at various online retailers or on Cobra's official website.

JR Raphael writes about smartphones and other tasty technology. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Article copyright 2011 JR Raphael. All rights reserved.