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spARTacus

Well-known member
Stayed at an AirBnB recently where there was no physical key provided and no lock keypad either, but instead an App needed to be downloaded for a "virtual key" via smartphone and then NFC (or maybe it was Bluetooth). Annoying, to require yet another App, another account, another company having access to our data/details, etc... We would have cancelled the reservation if we had another option.

I can see that App and door lock approach being hacked.
 

SteinwayTransitCorp

Well-known member
Stayed at an AirBnB recently where there was no physical key provided and no lock keypad either, but instead an App needed to be downloaded for a "virtual key" via smartphone and then NFC (or maybe it was Bluetooth). Annoying, to require yet another App, another account, another company having access to our data/details, etc... We would have cancelled the reservation if we had another option.

I can see that App and door lock approach being hacked.
I see it as a real security risk for the user as well
 

durendal

Member
On the other hand, I can see how this would be beneficial to the host. When guest arrives, you don't have to be there to hand them the key to the place, but just give them access remotely. I can see much uses for the digital doorlock in the market today, but still iffy if you will require people to download the app.

The way I see it, if there is intention to break in, no matter how secure you've made it, they will still be able to break in. It's just a matter of time. The locks are just a deterrent to dissuade potential thieves to move along, and the mechanism is there just to delay the forced entry until just enough time until proper authorities arrive.
 

spARTacus

Well-known member
On the other hand, I can see how this would be beneficial to the host. When guest arrives, you don't have to be there to hand them the key to the place, but just give them access remotely. I can see much uses for the digital doorlock in the market today, but still iffy if you will require people to download the app.

The way I see it, if there is intention to break in, no matter how secure you've made it, they will still be able to break in. It's just a matter of time. The locks are just a deterrent to dissuade potential thieves to move along, and the mechanism is there just to delay the forced entry until just enough time until proper authorities arrive.
Agree completely that it is convenient for the host. It was the first time I encountered it. The App approach will probably catch on and become the norm for door locks, for AirBnBs and realtors, as it does provide more remote real-time control.

Agree also that all door locks are just deterrents.
 

SteinwayTransitCorp

Well-known member
Agree completely that it is convenient for the host. It was the first time I encountered it. The App approach will probably catch on and become the norm for door locks, for AirBnBs and realtors, as it does provide more remote real-time control.

Agree also that all door locks are just deterrents.
I think the problem I see with all of this is, you have to join something another thing to give information to Use something you may only use once. Yet that information that you had to provide is out there forever.
 

spARTacus

Well-known member
I think the problem I see with all of this is, you have to join something another thing to give information to Use something you may only use once. Yet that information that you had to provide is out there forever.
That's most of life nowadays with phones and apps and subscriptions and everything else. I also think it sucks big time, but I guess everything would be even more expensive without such.
 

Chuck Finley69

Active member
That's most of life nowadays with phones and apps and subscriptions and everything else. I also think it sucks big time, but I guess everything would be even more expensive without such.

This is very true. My entire income nowadays is more or less tied into subscription annualized revenue.
 

SteinwayTransitCorp

Well-known member
In Europe and in the UK car manufacturers now have people subscribe to have options work in their car. If you want heated seats, you have to pay for cruise control monthly payments. The reaching into one’s pocket never ends
 

durendal

Member
In Europe and in the UK car manufacturers now have people subscribe to have options work in their car. If you want heated seats, you have to pay for cruise control monthly payments. The reaching into one’s pocket never ends
What? That's just nuts! Cars are already expensive as it is, and adding subscription too? I hope this doesn't catch on. At this rate, there'll come a time that you'll need a subscription just to breath oxygen.
 

SteinwayTransitCorp

Well-known member
What? That's just nuts! Cars are already expensive as it is, and adding subscription too? I hope this doesn't catch on. At this rate, there'll come a time that you'll need a subscription just to breath oxygen.
correction.

BMW is now offering British drivers the option of enjoying a heated seat on a monthly subscription basis. Of course, you can still get heated seats the regular way – just buy them as an option when you purchase the car – but for those who didn’t do that, or who bought a used car without the feature, BMW will enable it for a monthly fee so you can try out having a nice warm seat on a cold day.

Heated seats, purchased on a subscription basis, will cost British drivers £10 a month, the equivalent of about $12.

There were numerous media reports this week about BMW launching the program in South Korea, but that was a misunderstanding, according to BMW. In that case, it was just a database error in BMW’s online store, according to the automaker.

But the British program is real.

BMW executives have spoken for years of plans to offer certain features including, yes, heated seats, on a subscription basis. The heating coils and other hardware required to actually heat the seats are already in the car, but owners can, if they wish, pay a monthly fee to BMW which will allow them to actually work. The benefit would be a lower upfront price for the car and, potentially, the ability only pay for the feature when it might be needed, like in the winter. Also, second or third owners would be able to pay – or not – for features they want or don’t want.

Naturally, if BMW drivers who opt in to the program don’t make their payments, BMW will turn their heated seats off.

Which features will be offered by subscription will vary by market, the automaker has said. Heated seats were given as an example of something that would not be offered by subscription in the United States because American luxury car customers don’t expect to have to pay monthly for them the way they would, say, a Netflix subscription. But heated steering wheels might be offered by subscription, BMW said in 2020. That hasn’t happened yet, though.

Some other features are already being offered by subscription in the United States. Currently, North American BMW owners can separately purchase “remote start” functionality that allows drivers to start the engine from some distance away so the car can warm up. Another function called “BMW Drive Recorder,” which uses the car’s external cameras (the ones normally used for things like lane keeping assistance) to make video recordings like a dashboard camera, is also available by subscription.

They’re offered in an online market called the BMW ConnectedDrive Store, which includes certain car features under the title of BMW Functions on Demand.

“With BMW Functions on Demand, customers will be able to explore new software-based features on a short-term basis by purchasing a trial, or buying that feature outright for a period of time or for the life of the vehicle,” BMW spokesman Alexander Schmuck said in an email.

Features that were paid for when the vehicle was purchased will not then be available by subscription later. This sort of thing is simply offered as a way for BMW owners, and maybe second or third owners of BMW vehicles, to try out features that might not have been “switched on” when it was first purchased.

Automotive feature subscriptions aren’t limited to BMW. Subaru also charges a monthly fee for a remote start function through an app (though it also sells an unlimited remote start function for a higher upfront cost), and Tesla has used software to artificially limit the battery range of its lower end models for years,sometimes unlocking longer range in certain situations. Other automakers have also talked about charging subscription fees for regularly updated technologies like advanced driving assistance systems and navigation.

Don’t worry about your heated seats, though. Those are all yours.
 

spARTacus

Well-known member
It will be interesting to watch those spaces. Until the industry has the ability to have vehicles that are illegal/immobilized for driving on the roads under their ultimate control (maybe we are almost there already - scary), I think the automotive industry will be underestimating the motivation and capacity of the hacker communities to develop workarounds. Heated seats for example (if the coils are already in the vehicle), should be easy to just wire up via DIY to a cigarette lighter, if there also isn't other tamper detection electronics in the coils/seats.
 

SteinwayTransitCorp

Well-known member
It will be interesting to watch those spaces. Until the industry has the ability to have vehicles that are illegal/immobilized for driving on the roads under their ultimate control (maybe we are almost there already - scary), I think the automotive industry will be underestimating the motivation and capacity of the hacker communities to develop workarounds. Heated seats for example (if the coils are already in the vehicle), should be easy to just wire up via DIY to a cigarette lighter, if there also isn't other tamper detection electronics in the coils/seats.
Just wait until a car or self driving truck is used as a weapon of mas destruction, there is the real scary movie….
 

spARTacus

Well-known member
What is now possible via drones is already scary enough. Not sure if via cars or trucks will be scarier.
 
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