Company Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), constantly develops new technologies for its current and future products, and in a patent sent for registration in June in Europe we have described an intelligent system that would allow the control of some car functions using a iPhone. More specifically, Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), claims that he could use the function geofence and a special accessory to allow the operation of various functions of a car using an iPhone terminal. The Geofence is a system that activates various functions in iOS when a user enters or leaves a certain geographical area established by him, and in the case of the system presented for cars, the functions would be activated when the user approach his vehicle.
The first signal can identify a current or future location of the vehicle. The mobile phone can generate one or more virtual geofences based at least in part on the location of the vehicle as determined from the first signal. For example, a geofence can be defined as a circular boundary centered on the vehicle's location, the radius being equal to a pre-defined distance. The mobile phone can repeatedly estimate its own location.
More precisely, an iPhone can communicate with the accessory implemented in cars, and when the user approaches it, it can be used: to unlock the doors, to start the car's heating system or the window defroster, to locate the car, to open the trunk, to turn on the heating of the seats and many others. Both devices would monitor their location via GPS, and when the user approached the car, the iPhone and the accessory would communicate via Bluetooth LE or Wi-Fi to activate the various functions. Moreover, Apple claims that the devices can also communicate through a data connection, and the user can optionally set a timer that activates the respective functions at a predetermined time.
Upon detecting that the mobile phone has crossed a geofence (eg, generally or in a particular direction), the mobile phone can generate and transmit a second signal to the vehicle. The accessory can control or coordinate control of one or more vehicle functions in response to receipt of the second signal.
The technology described by Apple now is far from new, there are already systems that can perform the same functions without problems, but having everything native in the iPhone is a big, big plus for users. Of course, it is not known when or if we will ever see the system implemented in our terminals, but it is good to know that Apple is working on something like this.
