Phones could be the keys to your car

So far, the cell phone’s primary contribution to driving has been the emergence of the even more oblivious driver, distracted, eyes wandering, meandering in the lane sometimes like a drunk. But the phone — or more specifically, the smartphone, handheld computer or other mobile computing device — is poised to give drivers the futuristic capabilities of the Batmobile’s remote control. Recent concept cars such as the Rinspeed iChange and the Chrysler Global Electric Motorcars Peapod have embraced Apple’s popular iPhone as a device not only for making phone calls or playing music, but as the key to starting the car.

That might sound like an impractical futuristic application of smartphone technology, but in fact, that and many more innovative uses of handheld computers are coming to market in the near future. How near? This fall the car-sharing service Zipcar will launch a free iPhone application that will let its customers (“Zipsters”) locate available cars in their vicinity, reserve the one they want — after reviewing relevant information if they are unfamiliar with the car — and pay for it.