Bluetooth Keychain Connects To iPhone, Lasts For Six Months On A Single Button Cell [Kickstarter]

Keep tabs on your keys with this Bluetooth 4 keychain.

Bluetooth 4 is proving to be quite a lot more than just an incremental spec bump to the wireless protocol. Thanks to its super low power needs, Bluetooth 4 is finding all sorts of clever uses.

Example: The Hone, a key fob which can talk to your iPhone whenever you lose your keys, and yet still remain functional for up to six month between charges.

Of course, the Hone also has a software component. Once paired with your iPhone 4S (or iPad 3), you fire up the app and tap a button to make your key fob squeal. So far, though, this isn’t much different to those old 1980s key-rings which would chirrup in response to your whistle.

Things get cooler when you use it to detect just where your keys are. It’s like a kids game of “warmer” and “colder” as the proximity detector gives you clues as to where the keys are hidden.

What is won’t do is help you find your iPhone if you’ve lost it, but still have your keys. A shame, but it could only work if you had left the Hone app open, I guess.

The Hone is a Kickstarter project, and has already gotten half way to its goal of $46,000 in just over a day. You can pitch a minimum of $49 to pre-order one and hopefully get one if they ship.

Kickstarter

• Thanks Geoff!

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