Apple patent for iKey app, you’ll soon open doors with iPhone
Phones have become an indispensable part of our lives; the iPhone in particular with the amount of third party applications has taken telephone usability to an all new level. With Apple filing a patent for the iKey app for the iPhone, the device could replace the need of house and car keys and wallet, making lives all the more limited to the phone itself.
Relying on the new Near Field Communication (NFC) — short-range high frequency wireless communication technology — the iKey requires the iPhone user to enter a PIN code on the onscreen rotating combination lock, which waves over to an electronic pad located on the other side of the house and car door.
The NFC devices are compatible with existing contactless infrastructure, a reason the NFC-equipped iPhone, with the app, could also be used as a digital wallet. There are rumors that the iPhone 4G will contain iKey capabilities, but that doesn’t actually seem to viable to me at this stage. But we’ll have to keep a close watch on the development.
