CarLock Alerts YOU (Not the Whole Neighborhood) If Your Alarm Goes Off
City dwellers, listen up! Your ears are about to throw the party of the century. CarLock is positioned to silence what might be THE most obnoxious urban living sound ever: the blaring car alarm. (We’re crossing our fingers that the ability to mask next-door construction or the sound of upstairs neighbors will soon follow…) Instead of punishing the entire block’s eardrums at the possibility of four wheel foul play, this little gadget alerts only YOU directly on your smartphone.
CarLock is a two-part vehicle monitoring system that’s easy to install and easy to use. The GPS/GLONASS-enabled device is activated as soon as it’s plugged into your car’s OBD connector, and the free iOS or Android companion app starts surveying all things security-related with just the tap of a button.
That tap activates “lock mode,” the state in which CarLock can send you notifications at the earliest detection of any funny business, including preventive alerts like when your battery is low or if it senses a suspicious vibration. It will ping you with active alerts like when your battery is disconnected or your engine started too. As long as CarLock isn’t tampered with, the device can even track your vehicle’s location if it is moved — or towed! — making recovery seem like a real possibility.
Lock mode can be scheduled in advance to monitor your vehicle at times you might be away from your car. Set it at the same time you update your OOO notification before you travel, after you park in an unfamiliar neighborhood, or even before you catch some zzz’s so the device can “keep watch” while your eyes are shut. If the app doesn’t freak out unnecessarily about the wellbeing of your car, then you certainly don’t have to either.
These notifications ARE loud — alarm clock loud, we imagine — but SO much more discreet than a traditional car alarm (and we’ve already acknowledged what a joy THAT is). What’s more, the earsplitting honk rarely raised a brow from your neighborhood watch group anyway: Progressive Insurance found that less than 1% of respondents said they would actually call the police upon hearing a car alarm. (Probs because it’s estimated that 95-99% of all car alarms are false. Womp womp.)
Will these entirely personal alerts be more effective in prompting a knee-jerk response? More importantly, will CarLock actually be a more reliable security system? We’re dying to find out. Currently, CarLock is only available in the EU, for €99 plus a €5 monthly service subscription, but will start shipping to the US in June. Until then, we’ll be at the ready to plug our ears in defense of that utterly annoying sound, and, probably, speed walk the opposite way.
What do you think of CarLock? Does it sound like a reasonable car security solution? Tell us in the comments below.
