We are slowly moving to an era where there is nothing in our pockets that cannot be replaced by a smartphone. Automobile major Hyundai is working on a project to replace your car keys with smartphones. It aims to let users access their cars using NFC-enabled smartphones. However, the new Connectivity Concept from the car maker, previewed near the manufacturer's European headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, won't go into production until 2015.
As part of its demonstration, the company equipped the conceptual system on its New Generation i30, which showed the users how to lock and unlock their car by placing their smartphones over an NFC-tag on the car door. Upon opening the car, the device can be placed in the center console, which will activate the user's profile by streaming content to the car's seven-inch touchscreen. The screen displays all the contents such as phone contacts, music, radio station preferences and individual profile settings etc. The smartphone can be wirelessly charged with the center console. The technology also allows for syncing multiple users to the car.
"With this technology, Hyundai is able to harness the all-in-one functionality of existing smartphone technology and integrating it into everyday driving in a seamless fashion. As the technology continually develops there will be capabilities to store driver's seating positions and exterior mirror settings, providing customers with a comfortable and individual driving environment," Allan Rushforth, senior vice president and chief operating officer Hyundai Motor Europe, said.
The South-Korean automaker said it will partner with Broadcom to power its upcoming connected cars. The partnership will work on integrating several functions into Hyundai cars such as infotainment, telematics and other driver assistance systems like reverse parking cameras and lane departure warning.
