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Find My Car Smart is first Bluetooth 4.0 app for iPhone

Bluetooth 4.0 became official recently, and now the first app to use this technology has made its way into the app store. The app, Find My Car Smart, is part of a Kickstarter project from FMC Smart. If funded, the company will make a Bluetooth 4.0 module that'll sit in your car. When you park, the module will trigger the iPhone app, which, in turn, will mark your location. This information will help you find your way back to your car, even in a crowded parking lot.

Bluetooth 4.0 is the latest version of the wireless technology to hit devices. It's meant for low-power, sensor-filled devices like the car dongle above. The specification was only recently finalized, and consumer products using it are expected to debut in 2012. Once these products hit the market, Apple owners will be ready and rearing to go as Bluetooth 4.0 is already supported by the iPhone 4S, the Mac mini and the MacBook Air.

[Via MacRumors]



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Bluetooth 4.0 became official recently, and now the first app to use this technology has made its way into the app store. The app, Find...
 

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FMC Smart

@Mike Sorry no James Bond remote control yet.
@GadgetRevue The iOS architecture doesn't allow you to use Bluetooth classic devices without joining the MFi program and even then you need custom authentication hardware. With the introduction of Bluetooth 4.0 Apple has allowed developers a lot more freedom in what they can do with Bluetooth 4.0 LE devices. The fact is this application was not possible on non-jailbroken devices prior to the iPhone4S. At the moment Bluetooth 4.0 dongles are $40 w/ shipping, we're trying to offer them at a more affordable price by buying in bulk.
In your Yukon you may not get optimal results it'll save the location where the Bluetooth link was broken when you walk away rather then where you turned off your engine. GPS accuracy can be about 5m, good enough to get you back to the row where you parked, but you're right in an underground multi-level parking garage you won't get very good results. We've try to stress this fact.
@cookingscience GPS is only turned on for 5 seconds or so to get a GPS fix, if one can not be obtained GPS will turn off after 3 minutes max and the most accurate fix saved. The power consumption should not be noticeable unless you're parking you car a number of times each day.

December 16 2011 at 7:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
chippyhawkeye

Actually The Wahoo Fitness App was first... I believe RunKeeper, MapMyRun and 321Run all were approved prior to this one also with support for Wahoo's Blue HR Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate monitor...

-Chip

December 16 2011 at 3:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jon Briggs

TOTAL SCAM

See URL - Product already exsists

http://www.bluegiga.com/BLED112_Bluetooth_low_energy_dongle

December 16 2011 at 3:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gadget Revue

Your description of how this device works is totally wrong. This seems like a regular bluetooth dongle that has been "programmed" to work with this $1 app. Probably $5 worth of technology for $30 at Kickstarter.
All it does (according to the Kickstarter page) is tell the the App (that apparently does not have to be running on the iPhone) that the car is parked (which I assume it discovers by losing power when you turn the ignition off. This in turn tells the app to record the GPS location right at that moment. There are multiple things wrong with this.
1. What if your cigarette power supply does not cut the power when you remove the key (like my Yukon)
2. What if you're in a parking garage? How will it know what floor you're on?
3. Where does the Bluetooth 4.0 play into this? Seems Bluetooth 1.0 would do the same thing.
4. What is the "Programming" part mean? (seems any "smart BT device" would work)
5. Seems to only work if you're far away from the car. The margin of error on GPS would keep you from finding a car just a few rows over.
Seems like a scam.

December 16 2011 at 1:18 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Gadget Revue's comment
cookingscience

6. Using BT4 instead of BT1 on the iPhone results in trivial power reduction compared to the power required to keep the GPS radio running.

December 16 2011 at 2:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike Kimmel

Wake me up when I can drive my car via an app. James Bond style.

December 16 2011 at 12:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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