Remote or electronic car starters are nothing new. Heck, even a smartwatch that can start your car isn’t that new. At CES, we saw a Samsung Galaxy Gear S start a BMW. Last summer, Toronto-based BNotions released an app that allows Tesla Model S owners (all 50,000 of them) to control certain functions of the car (like open the sunroof, beep the horn, and unlock the doors). Now Tim Cook is saying he thinks that Apple’s upcoming smartwatch will be able to start your car, too.
Speaking in an interview with UK newspaper The Telegraph, the Apple CEO said the watch will replace your car keys. Cook was explaining that while notifications on the wrist are invaluable to him, he expects users will discover many other things about the Apple Watch that they just love. For instance, Cook said, the watch is designed to replace car keys and their bulky fobs. He doesn’t go into any further details (so we don’t know if this is a feature that will be present at launch or one that will be facilitated by a special app that comes later), but it’s further proof that the CEO wasn’t lying when he said in September that the watch is capable of much more than was discussed at the iPhone event, the company just hasn’t let us in on all the details yet.
The Apple Watch will be available in numerous different versions, from an entry-level “Sport” version to the luxry “Edition,” which will be manufactured using 18 carat gold. All will be compatible with Apple Pay, eliminating the need for users to carry their wallet, and will feature the usual smartwatch functionality that we’ve come to expect — fitness tracking, notifications, heart rate monitoring, weather reports, and time (obviously). What will be really interesting is how developers use the Apple Watch SDK, which is already available, to bring additional functionality to the watch.
Apple yesterday sent out invitations for a “Spring Forward” event scheduled for March 9th. Though the invitation doesn’t specifically say so, it’s thought that this will be the official Apple Watch launch event. We’ll be there to bring you everything as it happens but the event will also be live streamed on the day.
[source]The Telegraph[/source]
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