Bluetooth padlock turns your phone into the wireless key

The pervasive design of the mechanical lock has remained largely unchanged over the past few decades, offering a relatively acceptable level of security at the inconvenience of carrying a key or remembering a combination. But if that key were lost or the combination forgotten, then there will be hell to pay. Design firm FuZ seeks to revolutionize the lock, more specifically, the padlock, through a device called the Noke. Pronounced “no key,” the device is a hassle-free “smart” Bluetooth padlock that automatically unlocks after detecting the corresponding Bluetooth signal from an approved user’s smartphone.
 

With Noke, users never have to worry about loping another key onto an already robust set and then fumbling to find the appropriate one. To unlock the device, users only need walk within a 10-foot (3-meter) range and click the shackle once. This activates Noke, and gets it searching for the Bluetooth 4.0 signal emanating for the owner’s phone. Then, once detected, the lock pops open until the signal goes out of range; but best of all, one doesn’t even have to remove the phone out of his or her pocket to unlock the device. 

Noke is housed in a durable, water-proof casing, and weighs approximately 8 ounces with battery and all. The battery itself is replaceable, but not rechargeable – which is actually a good thing as it last about a year, making it significantly less of a hassle than a lock requiring the regular maintenance of recharging. You wouldn’t want your “smart lock” failing on account of an empty battery now would you? Replacing said battery is as easy as popping the cover and swapping it out. Nonetheless, a long lasting battery only addresses ½ the problem. In the event that your smartphone runs out of battery, it’s possible to unlock the Noke using by programming a click combination of short and long taps akin to Morse code.

Noke is not the first attempt at developing a Bluetooth padlock, a similar device called the Teo launched an unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign about a year prior. But unlike Teo, Noke features an additional game-changing feature in the form of key-sharing. Using the accompanying Android or iOS app, owners can remotely grant any number of outside users access to their Noke device for a one-time, full-time, or scheduled block of time. This feature is especially useful when juggling access to private stashes of tools with multiple people or needing to grant laborers one-time access to your gardening tools.

With 29 days to go on their Kickstarter campaign (as of this article), FuZ has surpassed their $100,000 target by $44,000. Anyone interested in early adopionr can secure their very own Noke unit for $59 apiece, or $30 less expensive than the future retail price. Noke is scheduled to ship in February 2015.

Via Kickstarter