Smartphones Can Now Lock Your Doors
Near-field communications, or NFC, is being touted as the next big thing for payments, as it's the centerpiece of technologies such as Google Wallet . But it has other uses too -- even locking your door.
Yale -- no, not the university, the lock company -- showed off its latest idea at the CEDIA Expo earlier this month. It's a door lock that works using the NFC hardware in a smartphone. Just wave your phone over the lock, and presto, it opens up. No prices were listed yet, and presumably it will be available in the next few months.
The only downside is what happens if you lose your phone (presumably there is a backup with a key) and how vulnerable this might be to hackers. While the system isn't Web-based (which keeps Internet surfers out) it might be vulnerable to certain wireless hacks. But it is a neat exploration of new ways to use NFC systems.
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