81–90 of 222 posts
Looks like a really cool product, but as a note to the marketing department: the product itself looks just a little bit too much like an iPhone. I got confused for a moment, and thought the device was an iPhone with a picture of the deadbolt on it. There's probably a way to make the materials somewhat clearer that the Lockitron is the big square bit, and not the C-shaped mounting adapter.
> We won’t charge your card until your Lockitron is ready Interesting.. so you don't even need the money for the first production run, pure crowd-hype marketing. Also very ballsy of YC to sidestep kickstarter like this.. although i suppose 1000 pre-sales isn't huge. As for the product, some nice feature improvements over v1.0, although i'm not a fan of the new plasticy design-- i would not want to see that thing on m…
what do you mean by 'ballsy to sidestep kickstarter.' has kickstarter become some kind of sole-arbiter of product development? FWIW, if this style of e-commerce continues, someone should develop the API for this/app.net type of sales instead of each building the billing system from scratch.
Too slow! Well played, Lockitron.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Empirically people are a lot less likely to forget their phone than to forget keys," That also varies on whether you drive a car or take public transportation. If you drive, leaving your house requires taking your keys and it becomes a habit. Same with leaving work. If you drove there you need your keys to leave. A good way around forgetting keys also is a realtor style lockbox either on the door or hidden with a sp…
But the lockbox has been working just fine for hundreds of years and isn't technological enough!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does the 4-AA batteries actually last a full year? I'm not sure how those batteries can maintain a steady wifi connection and survive for a full year. The lowest power wifi chips I know still draw 40mA in RX mode.
Continuously connected? No. We'd last about two weeks. We poll infrequently during off hours and more frequently when people are likely to be coming and going. Knocking also wakes it up. Bluetooth 4.0 gets us the rest of the way. It's instant for iPhone 4s and 5 users and we should have rudimentary support for the Android devices with BT4 by March.
What if you sold a separate device that plugged in the wall and had a constant wifi connection, then used BT4 for communicating with the lock powered by 4xAA? Then you wouldn't even need wifi on the lock.
Also, why an arduino mega? Are you using that many I/O pins or is it because your code needs the 256KB of flash?
Will Sense work with multiple phones at a time?
And when I actually do want to open it remotely, I get a call with a code I can enter. In other words, some sort of 2 step authentication.
And I want to be notified by the app every time that door opens if I am not using the app right then to open it.
Why not use a lock with a keycode instead? I don't see a single scenario where Lockitron works better. http://consumer.schlage.com/Products/Pages/category-landing....
The user codes for these products are 4 digits, and 4 digit codes do not offer much security. I had a 4 digit Master lock in 7th grade, and an 8th grader spent a little bit of time with the lock, determined the passcode (chosen at random), and then changed the combination. I wouldn't put one of these locks on my home, or on anything that I wanted to actually "lock"
I've been using a MiCasa Verde[1], alongside the compatible KwikSet Deadbolts[2], an android app called Automator to accomplish the same thing. It's actually a little pricier but you get: a. Remote entry -- unlock your door from afar. b. A nice home automation system (mine's expanded to control lights and thermostat now) c. Keypad and key-entry as backups I love it. Being able to remotely lock and unlock your doors i…
We're headed towards the Internet of Things but right now they're all sort of talking with their own software. A house with the Nest thermometer and the Lockitron lock won't be able to execute on the scenario I described above -- and if you're a homeowner you may want to think more long term than investing in one-off solutions for every latest thing a chip goes in to.