Apple envisions ways to find and start your car with your iPhone

A couple of newly-published patent filings highlight methods to track down and control your car via your iPhone's Bluetooth connection.

Those of us who can never find our cars in a crowded parking garage may one day get a helping hand from Apple.

Published Thursday by the U.S. Trade and Patent Office, an Apple patent application called "Method for locating a vehicle" describes a technology in which your mobile device can talk to your car through a Bluetooth connection to confirm that it's parked somewhere nearby. The parking garage itself would also have its own wireless system to pinpoint the exact location of your car.

A map would then display on your phone to lead you to your car, similar to the way current GPS system lead you to a specific address.

Okay, now you've found your car, but you can't find your keys. No problem. Your iPhone may lend a hand here as well.

Another patent published Thursday called "Accessing a vehicle using portable devices" details a way to unlock the door using your mobile device. Your phone would essentially act as a replacement for a key fob, using certain security and authentication methods to gain access to your car.

Once inside, you could then use your phone to start the car, turn on the radio, adjust the seats, activate the headlights, and open the sunroof. Your car could even change certain settings based on the credentials stored on the iPhone. For example, the car seats or mirror would adjust themselves automatically depending on who's in the driver's seat.

In some embodiments, the vehicle-related operation can include a personalization operation, in which the vehicle automatically adjusts an environmental setting (e.g., seat position, mirror position, temperature controls, settings for an audio or audiovisual entertainment system) based on the received vehicle access credential and/or on the particular portable device from which the vehicle access credential is received.

That last feature alone would be a timesaver. I'd never again have to manually adjust the seats and mirrors after my wife drives my car.

by Lance Whitney