Two-In-One Chip Key to Urban Bag’s High-Tech

Amid a spate of high-tech bags on their way to market this spring, the HiSmart convertible urban bag by Lepow aims to stand out, thanks to a two-in-one chip that enables technology the Silicon Valley company has been working on for nearly three years. “So far, a smart bag is just a portable charging station. We thought, ‘We can do more than that,’” Julianna He, Lepow cofounder and chief operating officer, said during a demonstration of the bag, whose Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign launched recently. With the special chip, embedded in a compact remote-control device encased in a leather-accented strap, the bag delivers Bluetooth connectivity and location-based functionality. Many high-tech bags only offer one or the other. Wearers can use the bag to send and receive phone calls, record voice memos, control music and remote-trigger a smartphone’s camera shutter for hands-free photography. A pinning feature makes it possible to capture a specific location — say, a parking space — with a press of the remote and return to it later with the help of a mobile app. The bag is also capable of ringing misplaced phones and alerting one’s phone when it’s about to exceed pairing range, a handy feature that could help

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