Yale demos NFC door locks solutions at CES for Android, iOS and BB

Yale demos NFC door locks solutions at CES for Android, iOS and BB

We have reported on Yale and their NFC door locks before. However, we have now seen the locks in action and have far more details about how Yale (an ASSA ABLOY company) plans to bring their solutions to market. The Yale NFC door locks are an exciting prospect because they represent quality products for access control that are built for consumers. Yes, later this year we will be able to cost effectively buy NFC door locks for our homes, offices, and anywhere else we would like to secure and use access control facilities.

Yale has put together a very robust business model for their NFC door locks that create a low barrier to entry for consumers, great security, and minimal charges based on usage to allow people to get the ease of use of an NFC door lock with added services that truly make access control user friendly and powerful. We were surprised at how open the Yale team were in describing the challenges, opportunities and model they intend for their NFC door locks, which from what we have seen beat any competitors’ offerings hands down.

We saw both BlackBerry and Android devices with apps unlocking the NFC door locks and the back end software that is accessible from any web connected device with a browser. Administration happens via the Yale access control app or via a browser and users can add virtual NFC keys, revoke privileges or can setup time based access control straight from their smartphones. The Yale team also let us know that they have the system working with iPhones using an iCarte or iCase sleeve that adds NFC capabilities. We assume when Apple unveils its NFC iPhone in the June / July time frame that the app with natively work. The system has been officially tested to work at -20 degrees Fahrenheit, and the team believes it still works at -40 degrees.

The Yale NFC door locks are constructed from high grade brushed nickel and have a display screen that can be used to override the NFC capability when you are at home. For example, if you arrive home at night and no one else is expected you can set the lock to not allow any further access until you next leave the house. The Yale NFC door locks also include an old fashioned key hole for any time your NFC smartphone has run out of juice or the batteries in the NFC door locks have run out.

When you boot the Yale NFC access control app up and touch the door lock, access happens immediately. What happens with the system is more interesting during this time. The door lock is actually connected via WiFi to the Yale servers and updates commands pretty frequently. However, if your internet connection goes down or you lose power the Yale NFC door locks will automatically remember the last settings it received from the server and update itself once electricity or internet access is restored. Because the NFC door locks are battery powered it does not rely on your electric service in your home.

This provides a fail safe element to the access control system, and as long as you keep batteries available you will always be able to access your home. Yale says that batteries will last for months too, so this really isn’t too much of an issue. To connect the system to the network is also really easy. Yale provides a gateway box of tricks that connects straight to your router and facilitates the communication between the lock and the firm’s server side system.

Your Yale virtual NFC key for the NFC door locks is actually stored with the secure element portion of your NFC smartphone, which means those credentials are stored securely within a part of your phone that cannot be hacked. In order to open a Yale NFC door lock you would need to enter a PIN on your NFC smartphone to gain entry also. Yale really has put a lot of thought into how the NFC door locks system works, and we have to say that it is quite impressive to see just how easy it is.

Yale expects consumers to buy and install the system itself. It is really easy to set up – you literally replace your lock, connect the gateway and then go online to provision your keys to your phone and download that information to your system along with any access control settings your want.

The pricing and actual business model isn’t firmed up as yet, but Yale team members let us know a probable plan. Yale plans to charge somewhere between $200 and $250 for their NFC door locks, which is a low barrier of entry. There will then be charges for adding NFC virtual keys in packs of 5 or so which won’t cost very much at all. This is great as it allows Yale to not charge a monthly fee for their server side services, but at the same time allows them to create a recurring revenue stream from their NFC door locks, which helps pay for their servers.

Challenges for Yale to overcome before NFC door locks can come to market

Yale already has the system for its NFC door locks. It already has the apps and it already has the hardware. So, why aren’t they selling their system today? In a word – carriers. Yes, the same old story of carriers not supporting yet another NFC based service accessing the secure element in an NFC smartphone. Isis isn’t ready to deploy at the moment and so that is a no-go at this point. Whereas Yale would act as its own trusted service manager for its NFC door locks, on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, Isis is the only game in town and with no Isis system ready there will be no Yale NFC door locks. With Sprint there is a different issue – Google and its TSM First Data controls the secure element. Yale didn’t mention that they were having trouble with Sprint, but we imagine that deploying only on Sprint and negotiating with Google for secure element access would be pointless without the other three MNOs on board.

We will say, however, that Yale said people at Verizon and other MNOs are being helpful to them and are open to helping Yale deploy its NFC door locks. However, we imagine that will come at a price to Yale or any other ASSA ABLOY group company.

That delay with MNOs means we may not see Yale NFC door locks until late in the third quarter of 2012 or even in the fourth quarter. That’s a shame as NFC smartphones will be deployed way before then. Remember, this is the year of NFC deployment. That means consumers will have NFC phones and services will be appearing on a near daily basis, but Yale NFC door locks won’t happen until later.