Cell phones gain ability to unlock houses, cars

SAN FRANCISCO -- Front pockets and purses are slowly being emptied of one of civilization's most basic and enduring tools: the key.

It's being swallowed by the cell phone.

New technology lets smart phones unlock hotel, office, house, garage, and car doors.

The phone sends a signal through the Internet and a converter box to a deadbolt or door knob.

Other systems use internal company networks.

Schlage, a major lock maker, markets a system that lets homeowners use their mobile phones to unlock their doors from miles away and manage their home heating and air conditioning, lights, and security cameras.

The systems are controlled by wireless radio signals sent from an Internet-connected box in their home.

The technology requires users to push buttons on their phones to establish a connection with a system in the car or house.

Mobile-phone-industry analysts say that process will get easier with the emergence of a technology called near field communications, which allows a phone to be waved like a magnetic card near a device that can capture the signal and click open a door.

In an eight-month trial that ended last month using the technology, customers of the Clarion Hotel in Stockholm were invited to use their phones to gain access to their rooms.

On the day of their arrival, customers received a text message with a Web address where they could check in. After the check-in process was complete, the hotel sent an electronic room key to the customer's mobile phone.