Apple Watch will eventually replace your car keys

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A Tesla Watch app concept.
A Tesla Watch app concept. Photo: Eleks Labs
Photo: Eleks Labs

During his whirlwind tour of the Middle East and Europe, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been leaving little breadcrumbs of Apple Watch revelations.

There was the confirmation that the Watch will be showerproof in Germany, and now Cook has said it will eventually replace your car keys.

Cook was greeted with a very warm welcome from employees at London’s Covent Garden Apple store on Friday. “The staff gasped, and then burst into spontaneous, loud applause as soon as they spotted Cook, who walked in behind them,” reports The Telegraph.

One of the first questions Cook was asked related to Apple Watch. He showed the retail team his white Sport model.

“This will be just like the iPhone: people wanted it and bought for a particular reason, perhaps for browsing, but then found out that they loved it for all sorts of other reasons,” said Cook.

One of those reasons will apparently be unlocking your car. Cook said that Watch is designed to “replace car keys and the clumsy, large fobs that are now used by many vehicles,” according to The Telegraph.

Apple has a patent for unlocking a car via an iPhone app, so the idea doesn’t come from complete left field. There are also the rumors that Apple is working on its own car, codenamed project “Titan.”

“We’ve never sold anything as a company that people could try on before”, Cook said, adding that Apple is “tweaking the experience in the store” for the upcoming Watch. The New Yorker’s recent profile of Jony Ive revealed that Ive is helping design a new store layout.

Tim Cook greeting employees this morning in London. Photo: Kensington Leverne
Tim Cook greeting employees this morning in London. Photo: Kensington Leverne

Apple is expected to announce more details about the Watch, including pricing, at its upcoming March 9 event. Cook has already said that the product will ship in April.

Some other tidbits from The Telegraph’s interview:

  • The Apple Watch “will make it much easier to prioritise, spot and react to urgent messages, such as a family emergency.”
  • “The watch’s battery life will last the whole day, Cook says, in another revelation that will please potential users, and it won’t take as long to charge as an iPhone.”
  • Cook is proud of Apple staying “true to our North Star.” That includes three pillars: pro-privacy, pro-environment and pro-human rights.
  • Putting the Apple Watch on his wrist is the first thing he does when he gets up at 3:45 AM every morning. Why? “I want to make sure I measure all my activity.”
  • He goes to the gym around 5 AM and to work at 6:30 AM. A downside of being such an early bird is that, “I miss the late night shows.”

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