這款智能鎖號稱可以讓你用手機開關家門，它安全嗎？

????在未來的家中，你不再需要鑰匙了。只需輕點手機，轉眼間就能打開家門。

????一家名叫August，擁有超強設計師的新公司正希望把這幅愿景帶給大眾。上周，該公司向公眾推出了自己的智能鎖產品。

????這種智能鎖是首席執行官杰森?約翰遜和知名設計師伊夫?貝哈爾的杰作，后者還設計過Jawbone健身追蹤器，也是“每個孩子一臺筆記本”（One Laptop Per Child）項目的總設計師。公司希望憑借這款造型優美，使用便利的產品，贏得早期用戶的青睞，并帶動更多人進入智能家居市場。

????研究公司IHS表示，盡管人們可能喜歡智能家居這個理念，但全球目前只安裝了560萬套智能平臺。不過到2018年，這個數字有望升至4460萬。

????August智能鎖光滑圓潤，重量相當于一枚獎章或一個鍍金冰球，用戶可以通過手機開門，還能給保姆或家政人員一把臨時的無線鑰匙。

????貝哈爾稱：“我們將其作為消費產品而不是一項技術來開發的。”

????只需兩顆螺絲和幾個合頁，就能輕松地這把使用藍牙技術的鎖安裝在老式門上，而無需改變房門外觀。用戶把手機上的應用對準這把鎖，或是按一下屏幕上的按鍵就能開門。

????對于這款售價249美元的鎖，持懷疑態度的人擔心它能否很好地抵擋安全攻擊。注冊這款應用需要兩層認證。但在近期舉辦的一個樣機展示會上，這個注冊流程并不那么順暢，而且在安卓手機上輸入電子郵件地址時頗有困難。約翰遜則大力夸贊產品的安全性能，指出該鎖還有兩層加密系統。

????作為智能家居安全領域的早期產品，August公司已為這款智能鎖募集了超過1000萬美元風投。不過它正面臨來自知名品牌和初創企業的激烈競爭。耶魯公司（Yale）就有自己的智能鎖產品線，Kwikset公司去年也推出了自己的智能鎖Kevo。同時，初創公司Goji正計劃推出一款設計時尚的智能鎖，它能拍下敲門人的照片再發到用戶手機上。本文開篇所提到的這款鎖是August公司的首款產品，但該公司似乎并不太擔心激烈的市場競爭態勢。

????約翰遜稱：“我們很樂意看到其它公司進入這個市場。如果更多人開始用智能鎖，這對我們來說是件好事。”

????約翰遜希望未來世界不再需要鑰匙，在他看來，鋸齒狀的鑰匙十分丑陋。

????他說：“我們會改變你和家互動的方式。已經有無鑰匙汽車了，為什么不能有無鑰匙之家呢？”

????約翰遜不愿進一步透露公司的長期愿景，但他表示，在不到90天后，該公司就將向市場推出一款全新的補充產品。（財富中文網）

????譯者：清遠

????In the home of the future, you can skip the keys. Just tap your phone, and presto, your door swings open.

????A new company with a high-powered designer is the latest one hoping to take that vision to the masses. That company, August, introduced its version of the so-called smart-lock to the public last week.

????The lock is the brainchild of CEO Jason Johnson and renowned designer Yves Béhar, who also designed the Jawbone fitness tracker and led the design for the One Laptop Per Child project. August hopes to win the hearts of early adaptors and bring more people to the smart home market, with a design that emphasizes sleek aesthetics and ease-of-use.

????While people may like the idea of smart homes, according to research firm IHS, only 5.6 million smart platforms have been installed globally. But the number is expected to rise to 44.6 million by 2018.

????Smooth and round, August’s lock has the heft of a medallion or a gilded hockey puck and allows users to unlock their doors by using their phones. Customers can also let in a babysitter or a maid by issuing them a temporary wireless key.

????“We’re approaching it as a consumer product rather than a piece of technology” says Béhar.

????The lock, which uses Bluetooth, fits smoothly over an old-fashioned door with the help of two screws and some wing flaps so customers can retrofit their doors without altering the appearance. Users open the door by holding their phone app up to the lock or tapping a button on their phone screen.

????Skeptics have raised concerns about how well August locks, which cost $249, can hold up under security attacks. Registering for the app requires two layer authentication. But during a recent product demo, the process was slightly buggy and difficult to enter email addresses for Android phones. Johnson defended the company’s security by pointing out there’s also two layers of encryption on the lock.

????August has raised over $10 million in venture capital funding for their lock, one of the early forays into the world of smart home security. It faces a lot of competition from both well-established brands and start-ups. Yale has its own line of smart locks while Kwikset released its smart-lock, Kevo, last year. Meanwhile, start-up Goji plans to release a sleekly designed smart-lock that will take pictures of people who knock on your door and sends it to your door. This lock is August’s first product, but they don’t seem too worried about the competition.

????“We’d love to see other people enter this market,” says Johnson. “It helps us if more people start using smart locks.”

????Johnson envisions a world where keys are unnecessary, and speaks of them as jagged and ugly.

????“We’re about changing the way you interact with your home.,” he says. “We have keyless cars, why not keyless homes?”

????Johnson won’t go into further specifics about August’s long-term vision, but he did say in less than 90 days, August will be unveiling and shipping a new and complementary product.