Imagine driving to the train station, getting petrol along the way, and buying a ticket, a coffee, and topping up your Oyster card at the station, all without getting your wallet or smartphone out of your pocket. That’s what BMW wants you to be able to do with your car keys. Read on, and we’ll explain what you’ll be able to do with a set of BMW future car keys.
Already, BMW car keys store information about your mileage and fuel consumption, can remember your radio presets and seat position. Now BMW wants to add NFC tech into its keys as well. That’s Near Field Communication technology, and its the same wizardry that’s packed inside the Google Nexus S.
NFC in BMW car keys mean you’ll be able to pay for petrol without digging your wallet out of your bag, and if you’re parking up to get the train, there’ll be no more tickets, just your keys. BMW car keys could even be programmed as your hotel room key, and ping information about your driving and the state of the vehicle to your smartphone.
These keys are a prototype yet, but NFC is gradually emerging in real life situations. Nokia predicted that we’ll be paying for our Oyster top-ups with NFC by 2012.
Thomas Kratz, Development Access and Authentication Systems, BMW Group says: “Our vision is that, in future, the key will not only mean access to the car but, inside and outside the car, will become as it were the ‘key’ to many functions. I would then be able to set out while checking for just one thing: Have I got my BMW key on me?”
Car keys sounds a little less than tech savvy though, but it’s only a matter of time until we’re using “smart keys” or car-paired devices”, instead of a set of car keys with an acid-face stress ball on the keychain.
What would you use NFC tech for? Shout out in the comments!
