Samsung yesterday launched its own Exynos-branded ultra-wideband (UWB) chip, the Exynos Connect U100, in a bid to compete with Apple‘s U1 chip used in the AirTag object tracker. UWB technology enables precision location, contactless payments, and much more. Samsung’s Exynos Connect U100 chip combines several technologies onto a single chip, including radio frequency, flash memory, baseband, and power management, making it ideal for use in compact devices like the Galaxy SmartTag+. The chip also includes an onboard scrambled timestamp sequence (STS) function for device-level encryption of data packet time stamps.

Related: The best Bluetooth trackers you can buy in 2023

UWB chips are known for their power efficiency, ability to measure the time of arrival of radio waves, and the 3D angle of arrival. These capabilities enable object location capabilities down to single-digit centimeters, spatial tracking without GPS in AR/VR applications, and specialized military equipment. Samsung’s Exynos Connect U100 chip is power-efficient and suitable for IoT and automotive applications.

Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag+ could potentially use the Exynos UWB chip, but the company has not yet announced a launch timeline for any products, including Google-branded ones, that will utilize this technology. The Exynos Connect U100 has been certified by the FiRa Consortium overseeing UWB interoperability standards, and a report suggests a potential Q3 2023 release for a Galaxy SmartTag sequel.