Of all the mechanical gadgets in our homes that could be improved by adding an electronic component, the lowly door lock seems the most ripe for picking.
Evidence: the many companies that have developed "smart" locks, including the iPhone-controlled Kevo and Lockitron. And now, designer Yves Behar and serial entrepreneur Jason Johnson are the latest to join the lock business with the launch of their company, August, and its debut product, the August Smart Lock.
Much like the Kevo door lock or Lockitron, the August Smart Lock can be controlled using a smartphone. It pairs with your phone -- and potentially other devices -- over a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) connection to communicate with the lock and grant you keyless access. It's as simple as walking up to a door and giving the lock a moment to recognize you. It then unlocks and lets you pass through the door, which auto-locks behind you.
Behar and Johnson spent the last year working on August, which will go on sale later this year for around $200. Their aim was to create a lock that is as simple and safe as possible -- and naturally, given Behar's pedigree, one that doesn't sacrifice design.
You can grant keyless access to friends, family and visitors by inviting them through the accompanying app. You can also customize which days a person has access to your home, even during which hours, and revoke access whenever needed."Safer, simpler and more social are the areas we've focused on," Behar says. "Just as we're doing for fitness tracking, really changing access and managing guest entries into our home is the next stage."
The result is a very pretty, circular, all-aluminum locking device that you put in place of the existing deadbolt on the inside of your door. A circular dot pattern of lights glows green when the lock is unlocked and red when it's locked. Unlike the Kevo lock, you don't have to replace the door's entire locking system. The installation should take no longer than 10 minutes, according to Behar and Johnson, and you can still use a regular key on the August lock.
The lock comes with both a mobile app and a web app, so it can be used with all Bluetooth-LE-enabled smartphones. August will initially launch with iOS and Android apps. You can grant keyless access to friends, family and visitors by inviting them through the app. Then you can customize what days a person has access to your home, even during what hours, and revoke access whenever needed. The app also logs the time and date each user enters and exits through the door. This level of detail is handy especially when it comes to managing hired workers like dog-walkers, maids or contractors. You're able to see whether they showed up on time, and how long they actually stayed in your house. Behar and Johnson are also already in talks with services like grocery delivery companies to implement August locks and apps.
As for the social aspect, the August app also includes a Guestbook function, which lets people leave comments and photos for their guests or hosts. This could be especially useful if you've listed a room or apartment on Airbnb. As soon as somebody enters your home, the app can send them a welcome greeting with some tips on the house. Guests can also leave their "Thank You" notes through the app.
Of all the items in the home, the door lock is one where physical control over its state is paramount to a person's feeling of security. The August team recognizes that getting people to the point where they're comfortable passing off that firm control to something as ephemeral as a wireless Bluetooth connection is a challenge.
"There are emotional barriers [with the door lock]," Behar says. People don't want their homes to be susceptible to burglary or unwanted guests, but at the same time, do often want to welcome people into their houses for various occasions. There's a balance between these two feelings, and it hasn't been met by the centuries-old key lock system, or by other recent locking mechanisms.
"Until recent technologies came into the mainstream, such as BLE, it was a lot harder to do," Behar says. There are biometric systems for door entry on the market now, such as iris scanners and thumbprint readers. But they are very expensive and very complex. "They are really systems for rich people," says Behar.
So where does the duo see the value in a not-inexpensive $200 smart lock?
"We're giving people an easy way to transition to this 21st century way to enter, to have access and to give access," says Behar. He and Johnson say they've found that one out of four people have locked themselves out of their homes in the last year. ("It's happened more often for me," Behar quips.) Also according to the company's research, around 40 percent of people carry five or more keys with them, and 20 percent carry a key they no longer use.
Or consider this scenario: You leave the house forgetting to lock your door, leaving it susceptible to strangers and burglars. The August lock aims to solve these problems by offering a completely keyless lock that is smart enough to know when to unlock and lock the door on its own.
"I believe that people will start forgetting about their keys and not really use them," Behar says.
What also makes the door so compelling is that it can be associated with individuals and produce a natural network effect. For example, since the August Smart Lock recognizes when specific people come in and out, the potential for customizable responses is huge. Not only can you send specific messages to people through August's Guestbook, you could also potentially have various apps connected to the lock and trigger other actions. August is releasing an API to developers for that reason. And if one person uses an August lock and shares virtual keys with others, it can quickly spread across homes.
"In this case, it's very easy to think that each lock will have about 10 keys," Behar says. "Very quickly between a couple of services and the people in the home and a couple of family members, you can multiply each lock by 10 people and now you have 10 people using the app of this 'Internet of Things' object. That's a very unique network effect."
There are, however, risks. Say, for example, you lose your phone. The August team has set up a way to lock the app and wipe all virtual keys. The lock is also encrypted, making it more difficult to hack. According to Johnson, the locks do not associate with specific addresses, so it is nearly impossible to associate a digital key with a specific door, should somebody else gain access to your phone. The August Smart Lock is also powered by internal batteries (which last up to a year), so you won't get trapped outside of your house if the power goes out. (The lock will ping you when you need to replace the battery.) And since the August Smart Lock is dependent on BLE, not Wi-Fi, you won't get locked out if you don't have internet connectivity.
The basic gist: This smart lock should at least be safer and easier than having keys, but it won't come without at least some potential problems.
Though a specific release date has yet to be set, August says the lock will be available for purchase in the winter of 2013, and that it will be targeted at general consumers.
