BMW develops new multifunctional smart key
New smart card by BMW can also work as credit card and allow driver to access personalized online data from inside the car
BMW likes to be a leader in technology. And BMW technology is usually quite useful. Of course, only if you can figure out how to work the damn thing. Think iDrive.
But this smart key looks easy enough to use. All you have to do is keep it in your pocket.
What can it do?
Well, first off, it's a key. Though the press release doesn't explain this clearly, it likely acts like those smart keys that Renault has, which is a card you keep in your pocket and opens the doors automatically any time you are standing near the car and locks them as you walk away.
But this card can do much more than that. It can also be used as a credit card, or store electronic ticket information for bus, train or airplane travel. The card can also provide the driver with in-car access to a host of personalized services through BMW's ConnectedDrive. Personalized settings for the car, such as radio stations and address books for mobile phones, can also be stored on the card.
Sounds great. Let's hope it's as easy to use as it sounds.
Car key of the future with integrated credit card
BMW Group Research and Technology has developed a prototype for a multifunctional car key which enables cashless payment and personalised vehicle access. "As part of our research project we first integrated a security chip into the key casing, which communicates across short distances by radio with a card reader," says Hans-Jörg Vögel, project manager at BMW Group Forschung und Technik. In future the key could also be used for other transport systems. Indeed, electronic tickets for bus, train and air travel could all be stored on the chip. The credit card function in the security chip allows electronic payments to be carried out quickly, securely and conveniently from the prototype key.
Adding a personalised credit card function to the car key opens the door to a wealth of other mobility scenarios. For example, the holder of the key can enjoy secure in-car access to personal data since the key gives the driver authorised online access to his personalised ConnectedDrive services inside a BMW - not only when he's travelling in his own car, but also from a BMW hire car, for example. Here, the driver identifies himself using his personal key and the car adopts his individual settings. Access to personal data such as address books, favourite radio stations and personal subscriptions to services and content providers is activated through the multifunctional key.
Because the driver can be identified with total certainty, the key can now - for the first time - be linked to the car owner rather than any particular car. This also makes hiring cars and car sharing, for instance, even easier.
"With the concept of integrating a cashless payment function into a car key, we are working on ways of linking up vehicle technology and lifestyle," says Prof. Raymond Freymann, Director of BMW Group Research and Technology.












