Elgato Smart Key: Never lose your keys again
Now where did I put that thing? After wasting so much time searching for that thing, surely most of us have despaired at some point that there isn’t a Google for real life objects. Whilst Elgato haven’t managed to index my house just yet – they have come up with a clever little gadget for tracking my keys.
For a few weeks now I’ve been trying out the Elgato smart key – a bluetooth fob that hangs from your keyring, and makes sure your phone and your keys are never separated. If you leave your keys and walk away, your phone will ring out with an alert to remind you – so you won’t already be on the bus home by the time you realise something is missing.
The way it works is by using low-powered Bluetooth 4.0. Simply download the app to your phone and the fob will connect via Bluetooth. Should the connection be severed (by distance), the alerts will kick in. The fob also has a button on it – which if you press will make your phone make a noise… so you can also use it to locate your phone if it goes missing down the back of the sofa.
The fob itself is flat and circular – slightly thicker and slightly wider than Pogs used to be (remember them?). It’s powered by a watch battery that can apparently be replaced relatively easily – and Elgato claim you should be able to get months of usage off of one battery, given the Bluetooth connection is so low powered.
What’s really cool is that the app enables the Smart Key to be configured in a number of different ways. For example – why not use the keys to detect when your bags are coming around the baggage carousel? You can put the Smart Key in your luggage and then when you reach your destination airport, as the bag enters the carousel it will automatically reconnect with your phone – alerting you to the fact that you should be watching out for it. Brilliant.
You can also use it to remember where you parked. Leave the Smart Key in the car and as your phone disconnects as your walk away, the app will log your GPS coordinates – so when it comes to finding your car again, you can be guided back to it.
There’s also a whole bunch of custom behaviours that you can configure manually – to make your phone vibrate or make a noise based on the actions of the Smart Key.
It’s great – and only £40 too, so may well be worth it for piece of mind. Plus they’ve beaten Tile to market in the first place. This is definitely one to watch.
