Volvo Wants You To Ditch Car Keys For Its New Smartphone App (dailydot.com)

An anonymous reader quotes an article on DailyDot: Lending your car to a friend could be as easy as sending a text. That's the future Volvo is imaging with its smartphone app that enables keyless entry for the driver -- and anyone with permission to enter. Announced earlier this year and now prominently on display at the New York International Auto Show, the app does away with key fobs and puts the key right on the user's phone. Using the device's Bluetooth capability, the app can do just about everything that a standard key could do -- from unlocking the doors to popping open the trunk to even starting the engine of the vehicle without turning the ignition. Beyond just convenience for the primary holder, the Volvo app also allows others to take the wheel without requiring a physical key. Users are able to grant digital keys to others, allowing them temporary or ongoing access to the car.

Comments

Re:So, like Tesla?

[hawguy]

So more like the existing Onstart one from GM then?

Not sure if you're talking about Onstar owners smug sense of superiority (is there such a thing?) or the fact Onstar already has remote access, but I believe that all of the Onstar functionality happens over the cellular network, even the phone app uses the cellular network to send a signal to your car. So if you're out of cell phone range, you're out of luck.

The Volvo system uses bluetooth, no cellular network required.

Ripe for abuse

[Jimbob The Mighty]

So, if you want to really screw over your work colleague, swiping his phone and entering his password wrong now won't only wipe his phone (assuming IT have that feature implemented), it will also maroon him.

Good job, Volvo.

Re:It is inevitable

[Lumpy]

Most modern cars, if parked for 2 weeks will have a dead battery. Just ask people that fly out for an extended vacation to find a dead car in the long term parking. It's very common now days to the point that airports now offer a service where an attendant will start your car and run it for 30 minutes once a week while you are gone, the kiosk for this is over by the car rentals.

Re:It is inevitable

[MightyYar]

There is quite literally no excuse for this. A car battery is on the order of 40-50 amp-hours. To discharge even a half-dead car battery in 2 weeks means drawing a constant 60mA.