Hyundai->ke201 has just announced a new update for its Blue Link app that enables Apple Watch users to control various car functions from their wrists. The app and associated update is currently available for free download at the App Store.

Hyundai’s cloud-based Blue Link platform enables features like remote engine start, remote engine stop (only available when the engine has been remotely started), remote door lock and unlock, remote flash lights, remote honk horn, car finder, vehicle status (which includes service information) and parking meter.

Users can activate these functions either by haptic controls (click the icon) or voice commands (hit the microphone icon and say something like “Find my car,” or “Start my car”). 

The update will work with both first and next-generation Blue Link-equipped Hyundai vehicles. The first-generation Blue Link system was offered on the 2012 Sonata and expanded across the automaker’s lineup throughout 2013. Next-gen Blue Link-equipped vehicles include the 2015 Hyundai Genesis, 2015 Hyundai Sonata and 2015 Hyundai Azera. 

Hyundai launched it’s Android Wear app at CES earlier this year, which included similar functionality to the Apple Watch app. Prior to this, Hyundai expressed interested in developing an app for Google Glass users, but canceled the project over insufficient demand for it. 

BMW,->ke178 Volkswagen,->ke94 Porsche,->ke1 and other automakers are also developing their own Apple Watch apps. Hyundai is believed to be the first to bring their app to market.

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Why it matters

Considering the demand for smartphone integration, both inside and outside the vehicle, this development shouldn’t be unexpected to anyone. So far, the functionality seems pretty basic – honking the horn, starting the engine, and locating the vehicle are exactly the kind of functions you’d imagine would come with this first round of apps. 

What I’m more interested in is what we’ll see when autonomous features start to become more commonplace. Smartphone and smartwatch apps that let you do stuff like tell your car to pick you up on the curb of a busy city street, go find a parking spot, find a charging station, pick up Timmy from soccer practice – that’s when things will get really exciting. And scary.

And I hate to throw a damper on all this geek celebration, but there is a darker side to this as well. There’s no such thing as unbreakable software, which means this app can be hacked. What happens when clever mischief-makers decide to spend his Saturday afternoon screwing around with other people’s cars for the lulz?

For example, why smash a window when you can just unlock it remotely? Would hackers find it hilarious to honk the horn on an infinitely repeating loop, or shut off a car’s engine in the middle of an intersection? 

Obviously, this is just paranoid conjecture, but as apps like this become more popular, it is something to keep in mind.

2015 Hyundai Sonata

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