Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

djrobsd

macrumors 6502a
May 2, 2008
824
25
Very cool. To all the paranoid people: if a burglar wants to get into your house to steal you're stuff they're going to find a way in, and no alarm systems or paranoid attitudes are going to change that. When your turn is up, your turn is up and you will get your car stolen, house broken into, etc. It's just a matter of karma if you ask me and if you have good karma on your side you generally make it through life without a lot of those inconveniences happening.
 

Squid7085

macrumors 6502a
Aug 14, 2002
558
48
Charlotte, NC
I have been wanting something similar to this. When I first saw it I ignored it, living in an Apartment most of these digital lock things require the replacement of the actual lock. When I took a second look I saw what it really does. Being in college and taking the bus to school and many other places, it's perfect. I have a car, but if I don't need my car keys, I can leave them at home and just use my phone. Also good because my Roommates never want to take keys either.
 

Tinmania

macrumors 68040
Aug 8, 2011
3,528
1,016
Aridzona
Great for people that have deadbolts that are not double (need a key inside and out to unlock). Those that have double deadbolts are up the creek. Lol. Pretty much useless on any door that is adjacent to a window, full view door or french door.

Nice concept though.
I think any lock is useless on a door made of glass. Heck, or any house that has windows for that matter.

Locks keep honest people honest.



Michael
 

dontwalkhand

macrumors 603
Jul 5, 2007
6,368
2,863
Phoenix, AZ
I really think its cool, but I already have two separate apps for home automation (One through my security company, and a Control 4 app), and I definitely don't want to add yet another for nothing but unlocking my door. Does this work with the Zigbee protocol?
 

intrepid00

macrumors 6502
Sep 28, 2008
265
0
They don't give the cleareance needed though, which is kind of important and I don't have much room on my door and the box looks big.
 

bpeeps

Suspended
May 6, 2011
3,678
4,629
Directly from the website:

Unlike lost keys which anyone can use to unlock your door, in the event you lose your phone you can disable its access by resetting your account password. Never worry about changing your locks again.
 

a0me

macrumors 65816
Oct 5, 2006
1,074
166
Tokyo, Japan
They get your phone, use the slide-up-to-camera to bypass your lock code, see you have the Lockitron app, find your name and address in Contacts, then ask Siri for directions to your home. Done.
With Apple Maps they'll probably end up 20 miles away from my place at the bottom of a river.
 

Fandongo

macrumors 6502
Nov 2, 2011
313
1
Space
what are the odds that someone steals your phone, figures out you use this product, finds out where you live and breaks in before you can get home and take it off?

Thumbprint reader shoulda been built into these phones for just this purpose. Or blood powered BT4 nano bots.

The phone is endangered by all other pocket occupants. It's a computer, it should do everything...including dispensing some Burts Bees.

----------


Kocking too!?! Awesome!
edit: lolol *knocking*
 
Last edited:

AbSoluTc

Suspended
Sep 21, 2008
5,104
4,000
I think any lock is useless on a door made of glass. Heck, or any house that has windows for that matter.

Locks keep honest people honest.



Michael

Not really. A french door or any door with glass (unless it's a full view glass door) is still valid as long as someone can't put their hands through the hole and turn the deadbolt knob.

I ordered one. We have a front door we can use it on :)
 

dontwalkhand

macrumors 603
Jul 5, 2007
6,368
2,863
Phoenix, AZ
Not really. A french door or any door with glass (unless it's a full view glass door) is still valid as long as someone can't put their hands through the hole and turn the deadbolt knob.

I ordered one. We have a front door we can use it on :)

Exactly, and not only that, but the deadbolt on one of the doors on my house help keep it shut, because if I don't it flies right open because the door doesn't seal properly. I know the bigger problem at hand is having to fix the seal, but at least the bolt is holding it shut for now to worry about it in the short term.
 

AbSoluTc

Suspended
Sep 21, 2008
5,104
4,000
Exactly, and not only that, but the deadbolt on one of the doors on my house help keep it shut, because if I don't it flies right open because the door doesn't seal properly. I know the bigger problem at hand is having to fix the seal, but at least the bolt is holding it shut for now to worry about it in the short term.

Yeah, our side door is like this. If I don't bolt it, it doesn't seal. When I bolt it, it's a nice tight seal. I could kick myself in the ass for getting rid of the copper weather seal. House was built in the 60's. You just can't get good stuff anymore. I have some silicone seal stuff on it but it's only good if the door is bolted.
 

SeattleMoose

macrumors 68000
Jul 17, 2009
1,960
1,670
Der Wald
Lol

Another naive tech idea....if these get popular the hottest device on the black market will be a code generator that can create a thousand digital "keys" per second to unlock your door and allow the owner of the "housebreaker" to raid your home.

Unless of course you have the second line of defense...a steel plated robotic pitbull with razor sharp metal teeth.
 

Crzyrio

macrumors 68000
Jul 6, 2010
1,586
1,110
Another naive tech idea....if these get popular the hottest device on the black market will be a code generator that can create a thousand digital "keys" per second to unlock your door and allow the owner of the "housebreaker" to raid your home.

Unless of course you have the second line of defense...a steel plated robotic pitbull with razor sharp metal teeth.

More like a naive person. The 'keys' used for these are probably more secure than any encrypted password you type in online. This 'device' would need a heck of a lot of hp.

Also I can guarantee you that any lock smith can get through your front door lock within 10 mins and you wouldnt even know it. Atleast here you would know someone went in lol.
 

jeter0490

macrumors member
Jul 14, 2010
35
0
why is everyone so paranoid that they are going to get robbed... seems like you all need to move to a safer town.
 

EmpyreanUK

macrumors regular
Mar 6, 2011
224
22
why is everyone so paranoid that they are going to get robbed... seems like you all need to move to a safer town.

We should replace all police/crime commissioners, security consultants and criminologists with this guy. He clearly has the solutions we in the real world are looking for.
 

Tha Professor

macrumors regular
Apr 21, 2009
170
43
The Mothership
I don't know if I understood this correctly. The article said it was aimed at people who rent their apartments.

Maybe you can send the "key" to your customer's app and make it valid for the period of their stay. Then they can just walk up to the door and open it without having physical keys. This means a 24/7 check in time and a lot of convenience for the owners - no need to wait for people on delayed flights etc....
 

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
Another naive tech idea....if these get popular the hottest device on the black market will be a code generator that can create a thousand digital "keys" per second to unlock your door and allow the owner of the "housebreaker" to raid your home.

Unless of course you have the second line of defense...a steel plated robotic pitbull with razor sharp metal teeth.

Heh. Who knew so many Luddites trolled the tech intense MR forums.

Look, if your theory was correct then the hottest devices on the black market today would be code generators for garage door openers and cars with keyless entry.

But the fact is, the preferred tool for thieves are 1) insiders, 2) small rocks, & 3) lock pick sets. You make it sound like homes with just traditional deadbolts and keys are immune from burglars and robbers. But clearly statistics says otherwise. If someone is bent on gaining entry to your property they'll find a way w/ or w/o black market James Bond devices. Of course, you also need to have something worth stealing. Most home robberies today (in the U.S. at least) are less random and more inside jobs where the thieves know what they are going in for.
 

Diveflo

macrumors regular
Mar 12, 2008
168
3
This probably won't work with european-style doors will it?
We got no "pushable" handle on the outside, so you always have to use your key to push back the latch.
 

bearda

macrumors 6502a
Dec 2, 2005
502
175
Roanoke, VA
Not that this really has anything to do with Lockitron, but what's the security win there? If someone takes a hammer and busts the glass, can't they just walk/climb through that instead of the door? Are you worried about the crook who uses a glass cutter to cut a hole just big enough to get their hand through so they can work the deadbolt... But oh curses! It requires a key!

My parents got snookered into double cylinders on their front door deadbolt.

They never took out the key on the inside one. :/

The sidelights on either side of the door a fairly narrow (certainly less than a foot), so the chances of them being able to get through are pretty minimal. They are big enough that if they cut or shattered the glass it would be easy to reach around the inside and flip the handle on a deadbolt, though. We have a key nearby (hanging on an adjacent wall), but not visible or reachable from the front door.

It's not a terribly likely scenario to be sure, but the setup is not an uncommon one.

----------

I don't know if I understood this correctly. The article said it was aimed at people who rent their apartments.

Maybe you can send the "key" to your customer's app and make it valid for the period of their stay. Then they can just walk up to the door and open it without having physical keys. This means a 24/7 check in time and a lot of convenience for the owners - no need to wait for people on delayed flights etc....

I think it was more meant in the sense that the person who buys the device is the one paying to rent an apartment (and can't change the door hardware), as opposed the the landlord.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.