While the BMW and Kia cars only support NFC technology on Samsung’s Digital Car Key, the two Genesis cars support both NFC and UWB (Ultra Wide-Band) technologies on compatible Galaxy models such as the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 3. The UWB technology uses radio waves to make short-range wireless communication. Digital Car Key allows users to lock/unlock their cars, “open the trunk, start the engine, and adjust seats and mirror positions”. Owners can also use this functionality to locate their cars in parking lots. It also lets owners remotely share digital keys when someone else is using their car. Of course, the other person needs to have a compatible Galaxy smartphone. Samsung’s embedded Secure Element (eSE) protects the encryption keys and other sensitive information. You also need to download the Samsung Pass app on your smartphone to use Digital Car Key.
Samsung’s Digital Car Key adds more vehicles
Digital Car Key is available on Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 2, Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Z Flip 3, and the Galaxy S22 series. But all this while, only one car supported the functionality — Genesis GV60. The company is now adding more vehicles to the list. Unfortunately, the availability of this functionality is still limited to South Korea. It’s unclear when Samsung plans to expand it to other countries. The company is looking to expand to the US, the UK, Denmark, France, Italy, and Spain but we don’t have a timeframe yet. However, if you’re fond of this functionality, you can use Google’s digital car key tool on your Galaxy smartphone. It works similarly and also supports more cars, including some BMW models. It is also available in more countries. It’s unclear though whether the newly added cars will only support Samsung’s Digital Car Key or Google’s version also. As our cars get smarter and more electric, digital car keys will become prevalent. We should see more companies developing such solutions soon. We will keep you posted.
