Teenager hacks together hardware for controlling your car via phone

Neutral

wako @ Jul 29th 2008 12:05AM

sweet, send them a few more olpcs on their way so they can learn more about hacking and we will be super fucked in a couple years when we get into our cars

Reply

Neutral

Samsam @ Jul 29th 2008 1:48AM

Anyone else immediately think of Bond driving the 7 series with his phone?

I guess I had really high hopes for this story.

Reply

Highly Ranked

Matt @ Jul 29th 2008 2:22AM

I have had one on my car for 4 years. Old news. Maybe not there, but in the U.S. they have had cell operated alarms for years.

Reply

Neutral

@froM@n @ Jul 29th 2008 2:25AM

Hopefully we'll get this in the states soon.

Reply

Highly Ranked

youngcalihottie @ Jul 29th 2008 3:28AM

i saw one of these on ebay last week. theyve been out for years actually. i mean, i think it is totally awesome that he came up with one on his own. but hes not going to be able to take it commercial, at least not here, without a bunch of patent battles.

Reply

Neutral

Ashley @ Jul 29th 2008 1:47PM

I don't know what is different from what he has come up with at home, vs what large scale commercial and electrical companies have made here in the U.S. however I think it is wonderful that he crafted something like that in his garage.Good going, sweetie.

Reply

Neutral

Taylor @ Jul 29th 2008 3:17PM

Also, when in New Mombosa, don't go stealing any UNSC Warthogs...
-Taylor

Reply

Highly Ranked

Grant @ Jul 29th 2008 5:21PM

This is great I hope this kid does well. It's always great to see young genius' emerge for the tech industry!

Grant
- LegitGeek.com

Reply

Highest Ranked

Grimm @ Jul 29th 2008 6:48PM

been done before....
http://www.gsmcaralarm.net/

Reply

Highly Ranked

Dragon @ Jul 29th 2008 8:35PM

...by a kid in Kenya?

Neutral

Jason @ Jul 29th 2008 8:55PM

Cant this system pose a safety risk. Lets say somebody does steal your car, the car calls you, you listen, and have the choice to turn the car off. If the thief is in mid-traffic, turning the car off can potentially cause an accident.

Reply

Neutral

Geoff Miller @ Jul 29th 2008 9:53PM

It's people like the above poster that starts thinking "liability" that totally borks most companies. My view? He's in my freaking car. I can only hope that he's killed in the process, otherwise, another "liability" thinker is going to suggest that the wrong doer actually sue me for letting him steal MY car.

Neutral

Jason @ Jul 30th 2008 2:38AM

And its people like you who act on emotion rather than logic. I'm not inhumane that I'd want a thief to lose his or her life just because they stole a car. Also, I was more so speaking of innocent bystanders getting hurt or killed in the wake of the push that button that causes the car to stop, potentially causing a multi-vehicle accident. Then all those potential deaths is blood on your hands.

Neutral

Jason @ Jul 30th 2008 2:44AM

And its people like you who act on emotion rather than logic. I'm not inhumane that I'd want a thief to lose his or her life just because they stole a car. Also, I was more so speaking of innocent bystanders getting hurt or killed in the wake of the push that button that causes the car to stop, potentially causing a multi-vehicle accident. Then all those potential deaths is blood on your hands.

Neutral

Information Central @ Jul 30th 2008 3:48AM

"If the thief is in mid-traffic, turning the car off can potentially cause an accident."

What a crock. A car can quit any time. It can run out of gas. The ground wire could fall off. Some other mechanical fault could occur.

Cars are not, and cannot be guaranteed to run forever with perfect reliability.

If a car stopping as it's turned off causes an accident, that accident almost certainly will not be the fault of the stopping car.

Neutral

Jason @ Jul 30th 2008 9:31AM

"A car can quit any time. It can run out of gas. The ground wire could fall off. Some other mechanical fault could occur."

Any of those reasons you've given can also cause an accident as well. Also, those reasons you gave are really shitty ones. 1. youve got a gas meter, 2. Ive never known anybody that has experienced a car actually dying due to a ground wire magically falling off during driving, please. Having your car stopped without warning especially in the midst of a car jacking spells potential accident.

Imagine your car turning off while youre doing 70 down the freeway. Most cars brake pressure will stiffen significantly without the car being on. So now, you've got a thief who is probably panicking trying to stop a vehicle which isn't his or hers and drivers without a clue of impending doom. YES....potential accident.

Neutral

Jason @ Jul 30th 2008 9:32AM

"A car can quit any time. It can run out of gas. The ground wire could fall off. Some other mechanical fault could occur."

Any of those reasons you've given can also cause an accident as well. Also, those reasons you gave are really shitty ones. 1. youve got a gas meter, 2. Ive never known anybody that has experienced a car actually dying due to a ground wire magically falling off during driving, please. Having your car stopped without warning especially in the midst of a car jacking spells potential accident.

Imagine your car turning off while youre doing 70 down the freeway. Most cars brake pressure will stiffen significantly without the car being on. So now, you've got a thief who is probably panicking trying to stop a vehicle which isn't his or hers and drivers without a clue of impending doom. YES....potential accident.

Neutral

Jason @ Jul 30th 2008 9:33AM

"A car can quit any time. It can run out of gas. The ground wire could fall off. Some other mechanical fault could occur."

Any of those reasons you've given can also cause an accident as well. Also, those reasons you gave are really shitty ones. 1. youve got a gas meter, 2. Ive never known anybody that has experienced a car actually dying due to a ground wire magically falling off during driving, please. Having your car stopped without warning especially in the midst of a car jacking spells potential accident.

Imagine your car turning off while youre doing 70 down the freeway. Most cars brake pressure will stiffen significantly without the car being on. So now, you've got a thief who is probably panicking trying to stop a vehicle which isn't his or hers and drivers without a clue of impending doom. YES....potential accident.

Neutral

Jason @ Jul 30th 2008 9:38AM

oh dear, Ive spammed the comments waiting for my comment to post, was not aware of a delay so I resubmitted :/ I didn't see it post immediately, can the mod delete them down to one pls. thanks.

Reply

Neutral

Alex @ Jul 30th 2008 10:35AM

Great publicity for this guy but, as already noted in a couple of other comments, what he has created is not new or interesting.

We provide remote immobilization technology as part of our Telematics, Fleet Management, Asset Monitoring and Security platform at Kinishi http://kinishi.com and we support a range of interfaces including mobile phones.

Thatcham http://www.thatcham.org (The Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre) in the UK even have a whole category (Category 5) dedicated to After Theft Systems for Vehicle Recovery that feature remote immobilization.

Reply

Neutral

Spencer @ Jul 30th 2008 10:37AM

Jason, you are a moron.

Car thieves manage to cause wrecks with the engine running almost 90% of the time anyway. Is that the driver's fault for allowing the car to start?

I'd sooner see a car thief crash at 10mph because the engine cut out than at 130mph because they were trying to evade the police.

So I repeat, Jason, you are a moron.

Reply

Neutral

charles @ Jul 30th 2008 12:53PM

How about he should have placed an auto-detonate bombs when unconventional car use is happening in the car (like theft and etc). It would really mean a thing or place some autolock functions for automatic cars when used without permission of the owner. He can also put eye-controlled locks or fingerprint-controlled locks. In that case only the owner is allowed to use the car.

Thank you
Charles
http://www.resourcesandmoney.blogspot.com

Reply

Neutral

Tony @ Jul 30th 2008 1:40PM

What about the police that leave "bait" cars in parking lots for would-be thieves? They use remote cut-off switches to stop the car, and also lock the doors so the thieves can't get out.

Reply

Neutral

George Jetson @ Sep 23rd 2008 9:58AM

There is an open source project for this. Uses a prepaid cell phone in the US that costs $10/month for 1,000 messages, tracks your car via GPS and can even alert when it goes over a pre-set speed limit. I'm working on a fuel solenoid to stop the car more gradually.
http://www.opengpstracker.org/

Reply