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Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

arstechnica.com

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Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#521

Post by nicce »

tantalor wrote: post #269
lykahb wrote: post #260

It is a common opinion in this thread that it is unethical to charge for enabling a feature that only needs the local communication between a key fob and a car. And that it is fine if there is a cloud in-between, such as remote start from a smartphone, because it has maintenance costs. If majority of the car buyers agree with this distinction, it would simply create an incentive to route more communication through th…

> it is fine if there is a cloud in-between But there doesn't need to be cloud in-between for an app to talk to your car. You don't even need Internet. In fact my phone already talks to my car via the King of Denmark, so I'm told.

They need it, nobody else. That is why even your robot vacuums are controlled over cloud server, not directly from you phone app. Or why your toaster has wifi soon. Or fridge. Or bluetooth enabled kettle. That sweet sweet data and control.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#522

Post by yumraj »

pomian wrote: post #505
yumraj wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: So why are all the people who are trapped/kidnapped in the cars in the movies not able to come out and have to yell to have someone come and rescue them? That implies that there is no way to open the latch from inside and people, including me, may take that as the truth and not even try to find the latch. I for sure didn't know that there was a way.

because their hands are tied.

Not in all cases..

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#523

Post by boringg »

shard wrote: post #419
beeboop wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your headrests can be removed, the metal poles in them work well for this too. You jab one of the poles into the window seal, then pry like a crowbar. If done in the corner of the window it will break easily.

I looked it up on YouTube since I wasn't sure how that would work. Here is a video I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZTa8Nh0VlE

That was helpful - thanks. Hopefully will never have to use it.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#524

Post by DenisM »

jbay808 wrote: post #363

I wonder if this, too, is a symptom of near-zero interest rates. With an interest rate of zero, future cash flows are valued equal to present cash flows. That increases the net present value of recurring payments (approaching infinity, actually). So it becomes increasingly attractive for companies to discount the initial sale price in exchange for a recurring payment. In a higher interest rate environment, that would…

Ok, that’s actually scary. Philip K Dick dystopia came from an unexpected angle.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#525

Post by ravel-bar-foo »

mavhc wrote: post #239
jodrellblank wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Won’t be long before they have 5G chips in and that isn’t your choice anymore. Kindles have done that since 3G, cars have started doing that, Tesla trains AI on all owner driving data, VW new electric (ID3?) will be their first with a mandatory perma HQ connection, IIRC.

Kindle with 3G was great, free internet globally. Never once showed me an ad, and most Kindles didn't have it. When that day comes buy a monitor, or hack the firmware. You can always break off the aerial.

Cell phone connections don't need to use aerials anymore. The antennas in smartphones are often planar arrays or square-ish fractal antennas. From the outside they literally look like little boxes or squares. The casual mechanic might have a hard time distinguishing them from a chip.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#526

Post by MonaroVXR »

gentleman11 wrote: post #302
lkozma wrote: post #8

was posted here sometime ago: The door refused to open. It said, "Five cents, please." He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. "I'll pay you tomorrow," he told the door. Again he tried the knob. Again it remained locked tight. "What I pay you," he informed it, "is in the nature of a gratuity; I don't have to pay you." "I think otherwise," the door said. "Look in the purchase contract you signed when you boug…

My wife and I need a new car sometime soon. Is there a company that makes cars that are reasonably reliable but that are without anti features like tracking, electronic everything, bs parts replacement costs due to ip, features you are locked out of via software, subscriptions, software preventing you from working on the car without a special license, ads, etc? Look at the ways software is making the world a better p…

Older cars to be honest.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#527

Post by freedomben »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #82
freedomben wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether you pay or not the car will have the capability and it will dutifully ask the home server what it should do. Toyota will still be able to see exactly where you, what you're doing, and be able to unlock/start your car whenever they want. you just won't be able to.

Not with the antennas removed.

I don't know how serious you are, but the modern LTE antennas are really small and are tightly integrated. Very difficult to remove without severely damaging the system.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#528

Post by MonaroVXR »

amelius wrote: post #378
gentleman11 wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I need a new car sometime soon. Is there a company that makes cars that are reasonably reliable but that are without anti features like tracking, electronic everything, bs parts replacement costs due to ip, features you are locked out of via software, subscriptions, software preventing you from working on the car without a special license, ads, etc? Look at the ways software is making the world a better p…

This is like buying a dumb TV, and is probably close to impossible.

Here you go, there are more, search on the website.

https://www.cdw.com/product/samsung-678u-series-55-4k-uhd-le...

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#529

Post by ravel-bar-foo »

feanaro wrote: post #330
jodrellblank wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Won’t be long before they have 5G chips in and that isn’t your choice anymore. Kindles have done that since 3G, cars have started doing that, Tesla trains AI on all owner driving data, VW new electric (ID3?) will be their first with a mandatory perma HQ connection, IIRC.

> Won’t be long before they have 5G chips in and that isn’t your choice anymore. Kindles have done that since 3G How do these things work? Do they have a contract with a phone service operator in each country in the world for unlimited data, or what?

The device company usually has a bulk data contract with a large telecom. It isn't unusual for IoT device companies to end up as minor telecom providers themselves, buying bandwidth in bulk and reselling it to consumers.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#530

Post by notJim »

yumraj wrote: post #495
notJim wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also in the "too late" vein, at least in the US, I believe cars are still required to have a latch to open the trunk from the inside. Not sure if other countries have these.

Serious question: So why are all the people who are trapped/kidnapped in the cars in the movies not able to come out and have to yell to have someone come and rescue them? That implies that there is no way to open the latch from inside and people, including me, may take that as the truth and not even try to find the latch. I for sure didn't know that there was a way.

For some reason, the law requires the latch to be removed if the car is in a movie ;)
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