iPhone App Unlocks, Starts Your Car — for $500

Nicole Martinelli ()

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iPhone users can now go keyless, if they want to spend $500 for the Viper SmartStart system.

The app is available, gratis, on iTunes. But you need a Viper receiver that costs half a grand to be able to say goodbye to your keys. (If you’ve already got a Viper system, you can add on the iPhone SmartStart module for $299.)

SmartStart lets you lock or unlock  your car, set the alarm, start it from remote, unlock the trunk and there’s a “panic or car finder” for those parking lot nightmares. You can also manage more than one car on it and assign more than one user per car — which the company says is great for families but somehow I imagine more “War of the Roses” shenanigans.

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Cool idea, but I can’t imagine paying that for it. How much would you spend to control your car from your iPhone?

10 comments »

About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

If you're doing something new/cool that's Apple related, email her about it.

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Posted in iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G S, iPhone Apps, News |

  • Crag

    I’d buy it if you can drive it like a remote control car ala James Bond

  • http://www.grinningidiot.com JAYnLA

    Honestly, I’d pay about $50.

  • http://www.toxicspark.com Andrew Macdonald

    If i had a car worth $100,000, then id certainly be willing to pay that, but on a $10,000 motor, no chance.

  • http://www.hubtechproductions.com Ben Huebscher

    I’d pay $500 if the unit had a GPS transponder in it that allowed me to see my car’s location on my iPhone. If my car ever got stolen, it’d pay for itself.

  • Scott

    I think viper is getting too clever for their own good with this one. Isn’t having a dedicated remote in your pocket infinitely more convenient than digging out your phone, unlocking it, swiping your way to the viper app, launching it, and then having to look at the screen to see which button to press (since there’s no tactile feedback)? Picture that with your hands full and you can see why reaching into your pocket and feeling the “braille” for the correct button makes more sense.

    If they had gone in a lowjack/gps tracking direction to monitor your car’s location with push alerts, I could see how that might be more useful (especially for parents watching their kids).

  • Scott Trujillo

    I know that this has nothing to do with the post, but i just received an iphone 3gs in the mail and i called apple because this was sent to me but was not mine. I talked to the senior vice president and he gave me an ipod nano for my honesty. I highly doubt any other company would do the same, APPLE MUST HAVE AN HONESTY APP FOR THAT.

  • Fuzzypig

    Nice marketing gimic, but no real purpose.

    How many muppets don’t bother to put PIN code to lock the iPhone up when not in use? Bag snatcher/pickpocket snags phone, then car as they had already watched you lock the car from the phone earlier on.

    You come out one morning in a real rush, forgot to charge the unit the previous night and it goes flat while your in the mall/office? You then have to try to desperately find an Apple store or at least some friendly person who will “jump start” your phone so you can drive home instead of taking the bus!

  • http://www.viper.com/smartstart Jim Jardin

    As with anything, new technology requires a premium price. New features such as tracking are in the works for the next generation. We are giving away one for free every two weeks from now till the end of the year. Become a fan of our Facebook site, viper vehicle security.

  • Ian

    I have remote start on my car and I love it for cold weather. Start your car up and let it sit and warm up before you even step outside. BUT its not keyless, and Im sure this one won’t be either since so many car companies require you to have the key in the ignition in order to release the gear to put the car in drive. As soon as I step on my gas pedal or brake without the key the car shuts off. Im sure this is also meant as a security measure as well. Plus my system cost like 250?

  • Jimmy Jones

    I like the idea of this. I like carrying less stuff. The theft of my phone (and thus car) is no more likely than the theft of my keys (and thus car). $500 is too much. The price will come down. I can see this being an option on new cars.