Smartphone as key fob?

I was more thinking "battery runs out" than "battery becomes unusable". I've had that happen on me, especially my old smartphone which was getting in the habit of powering off when the battery gauge still showed about 1/3 left.

And yes, you could throw the same RFID tag that's in the fob into the phone. But there's no standard for that sort of thing yet. (And once there is a standard, well, that might be dangerous - if it's not perfectly secure, and it won't be, then somebody will figure out how to crack it, and they can then steal every car on the road...)

 

I would love to use my iPhone as my fob. I think it is a great idea. I hate having things in the pockets of my slacks. I never carry change, all my office doors have code or card locks.

On the house locks? An app Lockitron – Unlock Your House Doors With Your iPhone | Apple iPhone School

 

I too was thinking, that my iPhone could be a used as a the key fob....I'm sure some apple geek is working on it.

 

check ebay or amazon, i think i saw one.

 

You crazy kids....

In my day? You know what your Dumbphone was? It was your phone! That's all it did. And it's service range? Tied directly to the length of the cord coming out of the wall.

Now everything has to do everything. We actually have to tell people, who have paid money to go see a movie....to turn off their phones and "texting devices" and watch the movie!

But it's okay if they don't...because later they can watch the movie on their phone...

I'm tired of all this convienence. I want more separation. I want a phone, a camera, and a key fob....all separate. I don't want a phone that can have a better day than me. Maybe I don't want to pay my bills using my phone, while I'm raking up another bill, using my phone.

Why don't we just join the Borg Cube now? Let's just have it all implanted as soon as possible after birth. Run that attenae through my colon, I'll probably get pretty good reception. Of course my car doors will unlock if I happen to pass gas while standing within 3 feet of the door...but life can't be perfect.

I've lost. There's no going back. Even the Amish are making some weird artificial fireplace that get's sold on late night commercials. And that Peruvian Lost Tribe? Showing up on Youtube....

Sure do it....do it...I want a smartphone that can open my car, start it, and then when I press an Icon marked "Thelma and Louise" it heads for the nearest cliff.

I want to be able to download every piece of human written literature onto a small 8x4 back-lit tablet. Be sure to give it a Kitten name...like The Bindle! or The Piffle...Later when the technology expands...we simply add "fire".

My poor mother rode with me with my Garmin Nuvi on...when it told me to turn left or right or gave directions, she became indignant.

"What if I don't want to?" was her response.

"Let's try it" I said..and did.....

"Recalculating...Recalculating...."

Recalculating what? Recalculating that I'm and idiot and don't know right from left? Recalculating that I probably should be taking public transportation? How about at some point it just tells me to pull over and take a Taxi because I've obviously been drinking?

Ask your Smartphone where the closest Blacksmith is...it probably will tell you, but you won't get a lot of hits.

Smartphone as Key fob? No, no, IMO we are just too close to the end of the Mayan Calendar for that...and if I learned anything from the Terminator Movies, is that you don't want everything linked together in one singular computer network. Infact, that lesson was taught in just about every piece of Science Fiction made from 1960 until today. Didn't Captain Kirk tell Scotty to pull all the wires out of the M-5 before it changed it's mind? When did we change our minds and decide everything has to bleed into one?

I don't want everything with me at once. I don't want everything to be everything. I don't want to be able to buy theatre tickets while I'm sitting on the toilet.

I want to be able to get lost. I want to be able to not be able to be contacted. I don't want to check my e-mail, voice mailbox, and text messages. I'm pretty sure I don't want my phone opening my car door.

Maybe I don't want Safety Connect or On-Star sending me help. Maybe I just want to head towards the light, without the friendly voice of a concerned representative asking me if I'm alright. Maybe I've fallen and I don't want to get up.

Maybe the view is nice from down here. In the warmth and glow of my Artificial Amish Fireplace. Give me a pillow, toss me a book, I'm good. I'll catch up with you later, if I can find my car keys.

 

Of course there's a simple way to use a smart phone to start the Prius. Pick up the smart phone and call your spouse. "Hey Babe, I stoped at Midnight Bar & Grill to get an evening paper, on my way home. I've been trying to start the car for hours, but the smartkey stopped working. Can you drive the extra smartkey over so I can spend the evening with you, like we had planned?" Be sure to put any :cheer2: friends :cheer2: :cheer2: in taxi's home before the spouse arrives. As with most technical maneuver, timing is everything.

 

Can't wait until this is cracked.... maybe you can give me some control of the car too from the phone. Sounds like a fun but slippery slope!

 

Cracked is right, about a week after this 'feature' is made public, anyone with the right software will be able to unlock and drive your car. No Thanks.

 

Sorry I am a little late to the conversation here, but I just found your thread. Check out INTELLACASE. This is everything you are wanting. Smartphone and smartkey together but separate. www.intellacase.com

 

Now that's freakin funny!!! Were you a writer for Andy Rooney?

 

Thanks.
Glad somebody liked it.

 

Bisco...just trying to understand your post as to what are you referring to with SKS draining the battery? These are just taking the current keyfob that works on the vehicle and putting it into a new form factor. Same electronics, same battery just on the back of the phone case now.

 

Funny, I'm pretty sure the owner's manual specifically says not to have the fob near a cellphone or it will drain the battery. Wonder what happens if you mount the fob to the phone. can't be good.

 

iPhone 5 doesn't support Near Field Communication, so I don't see it being possible at all.

Some Android phones do support NFC, at least, but probably not on the correct frequencies. If it can use the correct frequencies, that it would be at least technically possible, although then you have to figure out how to get the phone to correctly emulate a keyfob and how to get the car to recognize it as one. Cloning a keyfob is possible but fairly difficult. Ideally the phone would emulate a "new" unprogrammed keyfob that could be linked to the car just like a real one.

I would love for my phone to act as my keyfob. I don't really see any real security implications. In fact, unless this becomes common practice, there's no reason for a thief to assume that a phone can unlock/start a car. Contrast with a keyfob whose function is obvious; all you have to do is walk around the parking lot pushing the button until you find the car it goes with.

 

That's a neat idea. Two comments:
1. Have you thought of licensing and incorporating the D3o (also known informally as "D30") miracle impact protection gel? My Galaxy SII phone case has this stuff in its periphery, and it already saved my phone twice when I fumbled it onto hard surfaces from 3 - 4 feet. Impact protection being more important than style, that is what I'll look for from now on in my phone cases.
2. This would not work in a job where smartphones - or any cell phone - cannot enter the work site.

 

I actually really do like this idea. I currently have an automatic plugged into my ODB port. I'm not sure if the ODB port can send information to the car but wouldn't it be awesome if I could start my car remotely and turn the heat on. I would also love to see my iPhone communicate to the automatic and unlock my car when I'm near and lock it if I walk away and forget to lock the car. Does anyone know if this is possible through the ODB port?

 

The Intelicase guy has a crude but practical way to do it. For the phone itself to actually become a fob it would need to be able to receive and send radio signals on the same wavelengths as the fob. I doubt the current phones can do that.

 

Sorry, I'm late! (nothing new there, then!)
Well, extending your thought, you might also inquire as to the possibility of using your SmartKey as an iPhone! ...anyone?