Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone
Zipcar announces upcoming iPhone app
If you're a car-free urbanite you've probably seen mention of Zipcar, or noticed one of their branded vehicles out and about. The company offers hourly rental automobiles with a rapid-deployment twist: there's no check-in or checkout process beyond reserving the time online and then swiping your membership card to unlock the car. The vehicles even include gas cards so you can fill up for free while you're on the road. Members are mostly enthusiastic about the convenience and ease of the service; soon, of course, there'll be an app for that.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim said 4:23PM on 7-15-2009
They demoed this at WWDC. All the ZipCars have a cellular modem installed in them that works with the RFID sensor. Basically what the app does is send the unlock code to the car through its cellular modem.
Oh, and it will also let you honk the horn so you can find the car.
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Rich said 5:26PM on 7-15-2009
That makes me want to hack it so I can embarrass all the people who should be taking the bus.
Jason Martin said 6:47PM on 7-15-2009
@Rich
Unless the bus doesn't go where you need to go.
I live in Houston, where mass transit is present but barely usable. I haven't seen any Zipcars around here, probably because everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) drives their own car. If mass transit was better here, I'd love nothing more than to sell my car and use mass transit and the occasional Zipcar.
JasonL said 10:25PM on 7-15-2009
Zipcar rocks in Boston. It's a great option for those of us who live in the city and rarely drive. A few years back, when I owned a car, I used to pay about $175/month for insurance alone and now my entire monthly car bills are only about $100 (insurance, gas, servicing, iPod integration is all included in the flat rate).
This is a terrific service for the few times I need to go outside the city to see my family. Looking forward to checking out their app!
Macopotamus said 4:28PM on 7-15-2009
TUAW even reported this at the time of WWDC...
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/08/wwdc-2009-keynote-meta-liveblog/
Is there anything new in this announcement compared to WWDC?
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emil said 4:34PM on 7-15-2009
"Zipcar's newsletter and website have announced that the company's iPhone app will be coming soon, and the landing page offers an email signup to be notified when it ships."
That part is new.
Macopotamus said 4:42PM on 7-15-2009
Fair enough...
emil said 4:34PM on 7-15-2009
The Zipcar staff has always the ability to unlock cars remotely (in case you lose your card, for example), so I suspect the iPhone is just tapping into this functionality through the web. I didn't know they could make the horn honk though, that's pretty neat.
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Marc Luoma said 4:36PM on 7-15-2009
I live in DC and use Zipcar when I need four-wheeled transport (not often). The best thing is they're scattered all over the city. I never have to walk more than 15 minutes to get to one. The iPhone app will help if I'm out and about and decide I need a car before I get back to a computer.
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Czesco said 5:30PM on 7-15-2009
Zipcar is a decent enough service and if I still had it I would be really happy to have an app like this.
Word of caution: Zipcar will renew your membership every year without warning you. Some people I know disputed it with them and they wouldn't refund the charge. Also, trying to cancel my membership was very difficult as they bury the way to do so in the FAQs (and not anywhere obvious). I would have hoped for a button on the membership status page, but I guess you make more money by not easily allowing people to cancel.
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