Mombasa teen rigs car with anti-theft cellphone controls
By Will Park on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 1:57 PM PST In Accessories, Announcements
When was the last time you used your mobile phone for more than just making calls through your car’s integrated Bluetooth system? Same here.
But, the days where our cellphones are relegated to mere in-transport chit-chat may be drawing to a close. Future automobiles could very well be outfitted with anti-theft systems controlled by your mobile phone. At least that’s the way a Mombasa teenager sees things.
The 18-year old from the Indian Ocean coastal town of Mombasa rigged his “Block & Track” so that he could use his cellphone to control when and who starts his car. The system allows for a driver to ring the owner to gain permission to start the car – perfect for those times when you need your intern to run downtown and grab your dry-cleaning.
Morris Mbetsa even built in a remote disabling feature in to his mobile phone-controlled car, just in case the thief managed to get by his permission-based ignition system. And, “Block & Track” allows the user to listen to conversations going on inside the car, in realtime – so if the car-thief is talking about stopping off at a Starbucks on the way home, you’ll know about it.
Mbetsa is looking for investors to take his cellphone-based car-control system to commercial scale. So, if you’ve got the funds, this kid’s got the stuff.
[Via: Engadget Mobile]
