Take a look at this video that explains the features. Yes, they explain what happens if you don’t have your smartphone with you.

In the not distant future, you will only need to carry your smartphone to do anything.

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By I digress.

As you can see below, the elegant looking package comes with (left to right) the faceplate, the guts with included AA batteries, screwdriver, rubber insert, and C-plate. Yes, they include a screwdriver, just like some Ikea furniture.

First, download the Android app or iOS app to setup your lock. When you launch the app, the first thing you will see is the video below. It explains what parts you need from the box, how to setup your WiFi, and finally the actual installation of the device over your lock. The most interesting part is that they used the “light” from your smartphone screen to program the WiFi settings. I’ve never seen this method used before. Usually, it’s done via Bluetooth. One thing that you have to remember is to make sure the smartphone screen does not time out and turn off. I had to touch my screen a couple of times to make sure of that.

Once you follow all the directions in the video, your installation is complete. Here’s what it looks like installed on my door (see below). As you can see, it is fairly large and thick. In fact, it’s so thick, it makes it difficult for me to turn the top deadbolt located above the Lockitron.

As you can see, the green LEDs indicate that your Locktron is properly connected to your WiFi.

The Android version of the app is shown below. The left screen shows the main screen which allows you to pick from different locks that you control. When you swipe right, you can unlock the specified lock. Swipe left to lock. The middle screen shows the activity and status of the lock. It shows who locked or unlocked the Lockitron and when. However, the Android version does not show when the lock was used manually. The iOS version does properly show that statistic so I assume they will be fixing this bug in a later version.

The right screen shows the Settings screen which specifies which way your lock turns, the name you gave to your lock, the address and time zone. You can also program a NFC sticker so that when you put your phone up to it, it will make your phone open the lock. However, I was never able to get the programming of the sticker to work. The Locktron support people tried to help without success.

The Lockitron website says that the battery should last 6 months. So far, I have only used it for a little over a month so I can’t verify that usage length. If your guest does not have a smartphone, there is a way to text message them but this feature will cost you $5 per month. No thanks.

If what you want is a quick way to get in without using your key, Lockitron is not what you should get. But if you need to allow other people to enter when you are not there, without having to give them copies of your keys, this is exactly what this is for. You can also use it to make sure to lock the deadbolt after people leave.

One other thing to note here. To save battery power, the Lockitron will go to sleep and will not respond immediately to your WiFi commands. However, you can knock on the door to wake up the unit. This feature does work, although it can be a little annoying at first.

All in all, if you don’t want to change your deadbolt, and need to control it over the Internet, this might be a good solution for you. It’s not sexy and might not be made to withstand heavy usage in a work environment, but should be more than enough for a home situation. Let your in-laws, friends and relatives come and go without having to give them a set of keys.

Update October 22, 2014:
The batteries that came with the unit died after approximately 2 months. I’m hoping that some higher quality batteries will last longer. I’ll report back here when those die.

Update January 7, 2015:
Although I am updating this in January, the batteries didn’t make it that long. This time, the batteries lasted about 6 or 7 weeks. Therefore, until this is fixed, I cannot recommend this product.

The post Lockitron Keyless Door Entry Review appeared first on Cochinoman.

The user can log into the service using their favorite browser, although it’s recommended that you use a modern, up-to-date browser. As you can see below, it pretty much looks like any other browser based email service.

What is different is when you try to compose an email. Other than the usual info (send to, message), you must also provide an expiration time if you are sending to a non-ProtonMail email address (see below). You can also see that attachments are currently not encrypted.

If you are receiving an encrypted message, your email will contain a link to the ProtonMail website. When you click it, you will be asked to enter the password for your message. When you enter it, you will be able to see the message. Of course, if the sender and receiver both have ProtonMail, this step is not needed.

The fact that you are able to “expire” email sent to people not using ProtonMail is a nice feature. This doesn’t stop people from making a copy and saving it in an un-secure way but at least this option is available.

Back in the day, probably only drug dealers and criminals would be interested in this service. However, now that Edward Snowden revealed that everybody’s email is being looked at by the NSA, pretty much everybody should consider using such a service. I know I’m going to use it for anything of any importance.

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Lookout also takes a picture of the person that is trying to unlock your phone by entering the PIN or pattern incorrectly 3 times (see picture above). As you can see, you will get an email with the picture of the person and a map of where they are located.

Once you get this email, you can also go to their website and located your phone (as shown below). Once your phone is found, you can make it make a loud siren sound, lock it, or wipe it. So if you lost your phone and it’s nearby, you can make it scream so that you can find it under your couch. The siren sound is not as loud as you’d think it would be and probably would not be loud enough to find it unless it was in the same room.

Of course, if it was stolen, you will want to wipe it so that they will not be able to do anything with your phone or steal your important information.

The app also has some premium paid service that will upload all your calls and pictures to the clouds so everything is backed up. If you have a Samsung Galaxy device, you can just use Samsung Kies to do that for free.

All in all, it’s a lot of protection for free. Get it and forget it. Until you need it. Then you’ll be glad you have it.

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