CES 2018 – Phrame smart license plate frame
Being completely honest, I’m not sure how I feel about the Phrame smart license plate frame. By replacing the rear license plate frame with it, you can keep a spare key (or fob) on the car opened by a combination or your smartphone. It has other features like temperature and location reporting, but the primary use case is just that.
Of course with that in place, things like packages delivered to the trunk (boot), oil changes, and car sharing become much easier. The fob storage area is RF shielded (i.e. Faraday cage), but not huge – so not great for large fobs (e.g. BMW 5, 7 series). I assume it’s powered via the car’s battery, which could be a concern both from an installation and winter starting perspective.
It’s a neat idea, but I’m just not confident that I’d use it. Would you?
Interesting concept. I’d rather give Amazon drivers access to my trunk instead of my house at least. But curious if it would be too obvious and then people could just break the license plate to then steal either items or the car itself
Certainly a tough one. Just having the Phrame doesn’t mean there’s something in the trunk or a fob in the cage. Wonder how different the probability of vandalism is with a Phrame v. no Phrame WRT to prying the trunk open.
Personally, the only use case I see significant value is the put my fob in the cage while I’m off somewhere being active and I can’t carry the fob with me – like playing soccer. ATM, I keep it in my bag, but it is a risk that someone would steal the bag while I’m not paying attention.