Hello, my name is Marco Martinez, owner of MARCOM Industries. We can discuss my qualifications in detail later, for this proposal I would like to briefly (1000 character limit) answer a few of your questions.
* How do these trackers work?
These trackers use Bluetooth (a form of short range wireless communication) to communicate with your phone. When you loose an item, your phone can tell the tracker (via Bluetooth) to ring aloud. Because Bluetooth is limited to 50-100 ft, it tells you the last recorded position of a tracker that is out of range. When your phone is lost, the tracker can tell the phone to ring aloud.
* Can they be self-charging?
Yes, but it would be better to simply integrate them with the battery/charger of your main device.
* Perhaps I can just buy a license to an already established tracker?
It is possible to reach out to an established tracker manufacturer and set up some sort of deal. I predict that it will be cheaper to implement the functionality in your product using common Bluetooth hardware.
* Some Bluetooth trackers have an ARM Cortex-M0 processor. Is this good? Bad? Something I should concern myself with?
It's like a low-power computer processor, and it is good for this application. The processor controls the tracker. Its the brains of the operation, and this one in particular is very low power. Lower power = longer battery life.
I would love to discuss this project more over the phone.
Looking forward to speaking with you,
Marco Martinez