Digital technology is systematically transforming how we do virtually everything, and next up is the Goji Smart Lock, which will allow you to control access to your home from anywhere in the world with your smart phone.
Think about it–no more keys!
The locks are expected to be ready for purchase by December, but the company is taking pre-orders starting today via a crowd-funded effort at Indiegogo.
“One day I had an idea,” says Gabriel Bestard, founder and CEO of Goji. “With my phone in one pocket and my wallet in the other pocket, my keys were a problem. They couldn't fit in the pocket with the wallet and I was afraid they would scratch the phone in the other pocket. So I decided to try and find a solution.”
The solution turns out to be a nicely designed deadbolt that you install just as you would any other lock. Its key features include:
- Picture Alerts: The Goji lock sends real-time picture alerts to your mobile phone so you get visual confirmation about who is entering your home using the access you have provided. All activity at the entrance is recorded and kept up-to-date in a log you can access from your phone or the Goji website.
- Day and Time Parameters: You control exactly when someone else can access your home. You can send someone access rights via text or email, and you can revoke them just as quickly.
- 24/7 Customer Service: The company offers live telephone assistance and a network of locksmiths in case you misplace or lose your phone.
- Design: The Goji Smart Lock has a circular form and brushed-metal finish. There is no keypad or visible keyhole, and a blue LED display welcomes you by name when you get home.
- Security: Goji uses bank-level security algorithms, 128-bit encryption to provide access rights. Every time you grant someone access to your home, Bestard explains, the system “issues a new key that will work one time but never again. So it won't be sitting there to be hacked into.”
- WiFi: The WiFi capability enables homeowners to control the lock from anywhere in the world, and also enables people without Bluetooth low energy phones to use the lock as well.
- Key Fobs and Backups: Although optimized for mobile phones, the Goji lock also works with programmable fobs (clickers) that can lock and unlock it as well. As a backup, the lock also operates with a conventional key by pulling back the digital display.
The system is battery-operated, using four “C” batteries that will last about a year; and it will inform you when the batteries start to get low.
The Goji lock recognizes you as you approach the entrance and automatically unlocks the door for you.
The team of nine is bootstrapped, with some F&F and small angel funding. It has been testing the product with a small beta group in the Bay Area.
The price of the lock is expected to be $278.