14 DAY TRIAL // If you have a bike, you know how cumbersome it is to have a lock that works for you. Some of them are too heavy, others require special keys and take a little bit to unlock. Skylock looks like a regular U-lock for your bike, but it brings something extra.
Imagine you could be leaving your bike outside a shop, and when someone tempers with it, you will be immediately notified. Sure, cheaper movement sensors are on the market, but what they usually do is run off a 9-volt battery and they start a powerful alarm. If someone takes the battery out or if you are in a busy place with a lot of noise, you may not even hear the alarm. But you always have your iPhone in your pocket and a push notification is all you need to react.
Skylock has been described as the next evolution of the bike lock because it provides a safer, more secure and accessible biking experience. The device has Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi built-in, a solar panel to recharge its own battery and capacitive touch buttons to be unlocked if you do not have your iPhone with you or when the battery on your phone has died.
Its developers say an hour of sunlight provides enough energy for the Skylock to work for a week. Charge it fully and it will work for months. Just in case you have to keep it in the dark for longer, the battery will last for about 250 days. Also, if you live in a foggy area and there's no way to use the solar charger while your battery is down, you can just use the built-in microUSB connector to charge it.
Skylock has been designed to withstand the toughest breaking methods. It has a dual locking mechanism so that doubles its resistance. A thief would need to cut it two times in order to remove it and that should give you enough time to get to your bike before it disappears. The only thing that may defeat it, but not unlock it is water. Skylock is water resistant so you don't have to worry about rain or snow, but submerging it under water may affect the circuitry.
There's also an iPhone app that will help you unlock it or share your bike with others. You just need a Bluetooth 4.0 compatible iPhone (that iPhone 4S or newer).
You can pre-order the device now for $159 (€120). Sales tax and shipping will be added to that price. Its developers have created a referral program. As soon as you pre-order it, you can get a code that others can use. For each order they make, you will get $10 (€7.59) back.
Let us know what you think about Skylock or just go ahead and pre-order your own until the price goes up to $249 (€188.98). You can still enter the first batch and get it in early 2015.
