Samsung, along with the Car Connectivity Consortium and FiRa Consortium, mid-January announced partnerships with several automakers to offer technology that will let people unlock and start their vehicle without a key, instead using their smartphone.
Audi, BMW, Ford, and Genesis have entered into an agreement with Samsung to offer the technology, which could be available as soon as August 2021.
“You’ll even be able to share your digital key across smartphones, regardless of brand or platform,” Samsung’s Kevin Chung announced during the company’s Galaxy S21 event.
Phones have multiple ways of transmitting signals nowadays — there’s WiFi, NFC, AM, FM, and not to mention the phone’s data connection. The one everybody is talking about is UWB, the latest and greatest form of connection that works with small, standardised pulses of energy to locate the phone’s position.
“You’ll be able to unlock your car door when you reach it, no sooner, no later,” Samsung said.
The newest iPhones already have UWB, and although Apple is part of the Car Connectivity Consortium, the brand will be working on its own car-key tech, set to be released in the future.
