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

It is inevitable

[the_other_one]

Someone will forget to charge their phone when parked in the desert.

Re:It is inevitable

[jbmartin6]

Worse than that, I need to get into the car to charge the phone.

Re:It is inevitable

[tripleevenfall]

Don't worry, you can just call Volvo to have them unlock the car so you can charge the phone.

Re:It is inevitable

[Nkwe]

If the battery is too dead to unlock the car it's probably not going to start.

Yes, but it would be nice to be able to get into the car so you can open the hood so you can attach jumper cables...

Re:It is inevitable

[sjames]

It will allow you to open the door so you can get to the hood latch you have to pull so you can open the hood so you can jumpstart the car or replace the battery.

It might also allow you to get to the phone you locked in the glovebox so you can call for assistance.

Or if we want the most extreme form, to allow you to get to the insulin in the car so you can live long enough to even care that the battery is dead.

When you let marketing make engineering decisions, people die.

Re:It is inevitable

[cayenne8]

Hell, I hope this is optional.

A regular old analog key works JUST fine for me...

Heck at this point, I'm trying to make sure I can DISable many of the new car "innovations" before I get a new one, especially if something like OnStar or UConnect which are no longer options, but are imposed upon you.

I just want a car that works, looks nice and goes fast...I don't need the tracking, surveillance or other multiple points of failure, like a missing, out of power, or stoled cell phone required to make my automobile function.

I rarely ever let others drive my car to begin with....

Re:It is inevitable

[Wycliffe]

You realize that all these doom and gloom scenarios you're forecasting have literally always been the problem with cars?

The big difference is the frequency of occurrence? How many times have you lost your keys and weren't able to find them? I've NEVER permanently lost my the keys to my car. I might misplace them and I've even left them in a store or restaurant a handful of time but I've always been able to find them. I've also never lost a cellphone. On the other hand, I've broken my cellphone multiple times and my cell phone battery has gone dead on me more times than I can count. Whether it is not being near a charger, using it too much, or forgetting to charge it at night. This isn't a super big deal under normal circumstances but becomes a much bigger deal if you need a working cellphone to start your car. How do you even drive to the nearest cell phone store to buy a replacement phone?

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.

I'm sure...

[caladine]

... that this will be secured in a fashion consistent with the auto industry's stellar record on vehicle security.

So, like Tesla?

[green1]

Sounds exactly like what Tesla has had for several years now.

Re:So, like Tesla?

[NotDrWho]

Not exactly. It lacks the smug sense of superiority that Tesla owners crave.

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.

Re:So, like Tesla?

[mlw4428]

> Onstar owners smug sense of superiority (is there such a thing?)

Nah, most of us Onstars don't even think about the plebeian poser fucks who don't have it.

How is this more convenient?

[Geeky]

I'm not sure how this is more convenient for the main user... compare "get keys out of pocket, click button, put keys in ignition" to "get phone out of pocket, unlock phone, open app, press button on app"... OK, it's one less thing to carry, but then you'd probably end up carrying the keys anyway as backup in case your phone died or the app crashed.

I've been experimenting with home automation. While having lights come on automatically via various rules is nice, it's a pain to go into the app to turn them on and off manually when you need to - easier to get up, walk across the room and flick a switch. This feels similar - a solution in search of a problem

Re:How is this more convenient?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

I'm not giving the Valet my smartphone.

Re:How is this more convenient?

[twotacocombo]

I'm not sure how this is more convenient for the main user... compare "get keys out of pocket, click button, put keys in ignition"

Not even that. I have keyless entry/start on my car. My key fob always stays in my pocket, I just push a button on the handle to open, and another on the dash to start. The battery runs out maybe once every 2 years. I've never once wished it could be "easier" by bringing a phone into the mix.

Re:How is this more convenient?

[Moof123]

Precisely. Just because there's an App for that, doesn't mean that it is easier, or better. Just make the key fob small and inexpensive to replace (and give me more than 2 when I buy the car!). I want less electronics in my future cars. The engine and frame vastly outlive infotainment system and other connected crap they are shoveling into these cars.

Please get rid of:
XM radio that I have to cycle through 3 selections of to get back to FM.
Climate settings that are only displayed on the LCD, and often not displayed unless I am in the right mode.
2G, 3G, or 4G anything. I want to drive. I can login when I get there.
Anything with sub-menus. I'm trying to drive, KISS.
Ability to order a pizza. Recently saw this touted as a feature, WTF?

Re:How is this more convenient?

[Locke2005]

You forgot: Touchscreens in automobiles in general. Why doesn't the department of transportation ban control devices that by definition you have to look away from the road in front of you to use? With mechanical buttons, you could usually tell which button you were pressing by sense of touch without looking. With a touchscreen, you almost always have to look. They do have touchscreens now that can provide braille-like 3D markings on the screen, but I haven't seen any car company adopt those touchscreens yet, probably due to the high price.

Re:How is this more convenient?

[Blaskowicz]

I will tell the valet to remember that the unlock code is y04WhDlHff6A49yarVdYjVxhwlu5X9WEOw5MZBu2Flj9srrbbB2
8ZDAr1IN4lm7fvoe4Y9n

Re:How is this more convenient?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

That's easy to crack if you speak ancient Decepticon.

combination lock

[holophrastic]

We had keys specifically so that a physical device is required. That's a security feature. Otherwise, a combination lock would let anyone with knowledge of the combination to enter -- which could easily be sent by text message.

I don't lend my car to random people, on a whim, without them having a key already. Sorry, that's not a thing.

And, again, I don't need remote access to my car, any more than I needed remote access to my VCR's eject button.

Works fine because no one wants to steal a Volvo!

[LostMyBeaver]

I give it about 2.5 hours before it's cracked the first time.

Tesla, a company with roots in technology and computers sucks at security. Microsoft, Google, Apple and slews of others (including the overwhelming Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, etc... community) could not on the best day make Bluetooth secure. I'm buying a BMW i3 right now which is extremely smart phone friendly and already know that simply because it's made by BMW it's an open hack fest since BMW is great at making things like drive trains and leather seats, when it comes to anything electronic, they're idiots.

So, here comes the infamous Volvo... a company who specializes in making automotive dinosaurs and they're going to make technology like this?

I believe Amy (Big Bang Theory) explained Volvo best when she made the statement "She was the only girl who would pass out drunk at wild college parties and wake up with more clothes on". That's Volvo in a nut shell... they could sell cars without any locks or security and people still wouldn't steal them.

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.

You still need to get in..

[thesupraman]

Sigh..

It is if you need to get in to the car to pop the hood (or trunk depending on model) to charge the battery!!

Or are you just planning to walk away and buy a new car?

NO.

[kuzb]

Seriously, why does every damn thing now need to be controlled by a cellphone? It makes zero sense to network the security of your car.