Thanks to the installation of a couple of Schlage keypad locks
, I am enjoying a mostly keyless lifestyle. On those days when the female portion of the household permits me to use the family car (2007 Infiniti M35x), however, I must add an RFID tag to my pocket. Given that I always carry my phone, which has both Near Field Communications and Bluetooth, why can’t I use the phone to authenticate myself to the car? The car already has Bluetooth. Newer cars certainly could incorporate NFC at a pretty low cost. The security on Bluetooth is good enough for payments (see this article on PayPal using it).
Hyundai is supposedly working on this (source) but why is this seemingly obvious idea not already implemented in at least any car that has Bluetooth networking? Is it a battery drain issue? A car battery is pretty huge.
Sigh. Probably for the same reason I can’t use WiFi to remotely download audio into my car.
Remember, car companies will never have competently designed modern computer systems unless they outsource that design task to companies specializing at it (Apple, Google, Nest, MSFT etc.). At a car company, even a brilliant software/UI designer is just there to serve coffee to The Car Designers. So they leave for companies where their talents are recognized and rewarded.
Another general issue: As phones accumulate more and more security/authentication functions, the eggs/basket ratio may get uncomfortably high.
Because when your phone dies you are locked out of your car and can’t get home to your charger.
I think it primarily has to do with car manufacturers product cycles. The iPhone was first announced in January of 2007. The M35 was being developed many years before that, even before the first iPhone rumors were appearing.
With how fast tech is changing every year, the car companies just can’t keep up. But I do think they are getting better. Another few years and we should have what you’re looking for, or at the least a third party solution.
Do you mean, why can’t I start my car with my phone as a default feature of every car from $10,000 to $100,000? The only answer I came up with is that car manufacturers (still) have no incentive to innovate. So, I set about solving this problem myself with an Arduino, a cell phone data radio, and a few months of programming time.
Then I used Google and said, hey I can just buy this and then it does door locks, and other stuff too.
http://www.viper.com/smartstart/product/vss3001/viper-smartstart-remote-start-system
We techies are strange. The vast majority of even luxury car owners would rather carry the RFID tag than jump through the (complicated) hoops required to sync a phone to a car via Bluetooth.
In other words, there’s no market for it.
I too enjoy a mostly keyless lifestyle. It is rarely a problem unless I accidentally lock my door. In which case, I pick up a key from my doorman.
There’s an OnStar iPhone app that lets you remote start:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onstar-remotelink/id393584149
I recently test drove a Ford Fusion Energi, which is the plug-in hybrid version of the Fusion. Ford publishes an iPhone app that will let you set the temperature in the car using power from the grid without turning on the engine. Really cool!
Also, check out the Automatic app: http://www.automatic.com
Or, if you have an Android phone, pick up the ELM Bluetooth OBDII connector for $15 on Amazon and the Torque app to get access to OBDII data.