BMW's new smartphone car key means you better not lose your phone
With your car keys in your smartphone it'll be harder to misplace your keys — but the pressure is really on to keep track of your phone.
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday, BMW showed off a smartphone-enabled car locking and unlocking experience.
BMW's Digital Key will be available this July for BMW car owners who have a Samsung phone. Through the BMW Connected app, the Digital Key can open your car straight from your phone. Once you're in the car, placing the phone on a wireless charging pad can even start the engine if you get really fancy.
To alleviate some of the pressure of completely losing access to your car, up to five other people can have a "copy" of your key, also on their Samsung smartphone. (This rollout will be very limited initially.)
The digital key is a snazzy new feature, but most people will still need physical keys to drive around, even if the smartphone is truly becoming an all-in-one device.
But soon, maybe, the everyday search for your car keys will be gone, to be replaced with new ones: Just don't lose your phone or drain the battery.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
