Apple Withdraws August And Kevo Smart Locks From Its Shelves

According to an article in Techhive, a tech industry online magazine, Apple have pulled the popular August and Kwikset Kevo Smart Locks from their stores.

Apparently Apple have decided to only include products that adhere to their chosen HomeKit Smartphone platform.

While this may be interesting news for Apple iPhone users and existing owners of August and Kevo products, I think it is not surprising.

Apple is a forward thinking tech giant that offers premium quality products at premium prices and aligning themselves with cheap stuff doesnt really seem an appropriate fit for America's leading company.

We have posted articles about the August Smart Lock and also the Kwikset Kevo in the recent past and we continue to remain totally unimpressed by the products.

There is no doubt that electronics embedded in door locks is here to stay. But the quality of door lock, you choose to have on your home or office can say much about you. Choose wisely.

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Kwikset Kevo Contemporary - New Advancement To Their Range Features "Touch Locking"

The Consumer Electronic Show is in full swing currently in Las Vegas and continues it's 50+ year history as a showcase for the future of electronic technology and products that "may" come to market in the next year or few.

Kwikset are no stranger to CES and continue this year to push the boundaries of technology advancement with the release of their new Contemporary Range of Kevo Connected Products.


Kwikset are one of the largest manufacturers of door hardware in the North American market and continue to provide builders and dwellers with a wide range of door hardware in varying styles, colors and configurations.

This Kevo product has been around a few years now and offers users a Bluetooth wireless experience to augment their "keyless" range of products.

I use the term "keyless" with care here, because Kwikset are not actually releasing non-keyed hardware (as that would defeat the reason they exist in the first place). They still offer their range of "Smart Key" cylinders across their vast range and continue to improve the strength of the cylinder product. As a veteran locksmith technician, having worked with Kwikset products over 35 years and worldwide, I am not a huge proponent of their range, but it is functional and competitively priced even though I think it is actually garbage.

There are many competing brands that are significantly better quality and competitively priced that can also be keyed alike with Kwikset keys, that are often more aesthetically pleasing, easier to operate, functional and last as long, if not longer.

Visiting your local locksmith to learn more about the other brands that offer competitive value to Kwikset, can be well worth your advantage.

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Kwikset Kevo - Bluetooth Enabled Deadbolt

Kwikset are soon to release (October 31st, 2013) a new version of their electronic deadbolt entry system.

Called Kevo, this new product is especially designed with an included Bluetooth transceiver, enabling hands free and wireless key-free access control to residences.

In keeping with other modern electronic deadbolt systems, Kwikset have chosen to include their patented Smartkey technology cylinders into the key portion of the lock.

It is quite well understood across the locksmith and residential security products markets that the Kwikset Smartkey products have some inherent faults that render the security of their products, ineffective. We have mentioned in this blog before and repeatedly about some of these faults and issues. We receive a significant and increasing number of hits to this site about Kwikset Smartkey Problems. Recently an issue has surfaced that allows the locks to be bypassed with absolutely no visible damage to the mechanism, without picking or bumping the locks.

We include a video of this new product after the jump...

Bold - Smart Cylinder Access Control Technology

Bold Security Technologies just recently released their own iteration of a smart lock. But this particular design is somewhat different.

Technologies like this have been around for a few years now, with industry leaders like Salto, already including a similar product in their vast range of high security mechanical and electro-mechanical access control systems.

The Bold is trying to secure crowdfunding thru Kickstarter and it may even come off, although at $129 per cylinder and only aimed at the (relatively small and already competitive) European market, it is a tad dear.

I think the premise has merits and the idea may even have legs, but competing in an already top-heavy market, with many of the established industry players including Assa-Abloy, Salto, Simmons-Voss and others already producing much broader ranges of smart cylinders that operate across more markets than just the Euro cylinder segment.

The market has seen a number of recent entrants, all vie for share, including August, Kevo, Lockitron to name a few.

One of our signature product lines Meroni, are knee-deep in R&D to bring their nouveau, modern style product line of unique door hardware into the "smart" family. Meroni are perfecting their recent auto-magnetic latch mechanism design, that already provides an almost silent and hidden latch mechanism, with a system that can be locked and unlocked by smart-devices (cell phone, proximity device, etc).

We are anticipating a release of late next year on the Meroni.

Electronic Locks - Wireless Or Wired Are Not A Very Green Oriented Product

 It seems that wireless or wired electronic locks are all the rage today in this rapidly progressing tech-electronic age we are in. Products like the Lockwood 001T, pictured here use a battery pack to offer keyless access control options.

But in recent years, many discussions continue to be held about green, ecological alternatives that cause no drain on power or grid electricity supplies.

Many customers seem to be considering the use of wireless battery powered products or even hard wired lock systems to add so called "convenience" to their lives.

While it is understandable that some systems can add convenience and access control to our homes and offices, the available products are not really "green" alternatives.

 The August Lock, came out a little while back, offering the ability to have a keyless/smartphone connected access control solution.

The product is very intelligently designed and may offer concerned customers the alternative they are seeking, however it is worth remembering that batteries require replacing every so often. What happens when your smartphone battery has run out? What happens when the products battery pack loses power?
How do you operate the product without a mechanical "keyed" back up?

The increasing evidence of smartphone theft and the quantity of known hacks, presents problems that many consumers may not have considered.

 At least Kwikset, are including their mechanical "keyed" cylinder in many of their Bluetooth and wireless battery powered products, even though the Kwikset Smartkey product has a poor track record of quality and is too easily compromised.

The Kwikset Kevo product was released last October. It is a Bluetooth, battery powered deadbolt that can be operated by a connected Bluetooth device (smartphone). It also comes with the Kwikset Smartkey cylinder, enabling a mechanical backup solution, even though there are many published records of the Smartkey problems, in the news.

Certainly there are many and varied options for wireless, keypad controlled, keyless solutions, but the quality of manufacture still leaves much to be desired in terms of quality and sustainability.

Many manufacturers continue to bring out ever increasing product options to whet the appetites of consumers.

But not too many are including the necessary mechanical keyed component as a backup.

I realise that many customers are impressed with the ability to grant access to certain people and then change that access on the fly, but the use of electronic products is not a "green" consideration, is it?

Breaking News: Ring Acquired By Amazon

Ring, the IoT (Internet of Things) company who manufacture a unique doorbell product in the Smart category of home furnishings products space, have announced their acquisition by Amazon.

Amazon continue to diversify their portfolio of companies, in attempt to upgrade their delivery services, with the purchase of Ring. Amazon developed a system recently called Amazon Key to help with the delivery of orders to customers without leaving packages outside homes or offices.

We recently wrote an article about Ring and their relationship with Skybell, the inventor of the technology and holder of integral patents that form the basics of the technology. The article describes a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Skybell, that now increases the interest in this story with this news about Amazon's takeover.

We have written a few articles articles over the last 10 years, informing about various peepholes and camera products aimed at the entry door markets. Some of these products have seen market success, but few on the level that Ring have achieved.

The IoT phenomenon has seen a great many new products enter the marketplace over the last few years and the physical and electronic security industry has become an area that many new producers are flooding the markets with all kinds of products, aimed at simplifying our lives.

A great many manufacturers are producing many varieties of digital electronic deadbolts and door locks, many of them battery powered and wireless. The functions and appearances of the various products vary considerably and likewise the quality.

Products like Yale, Lockitron, August, Kevo, to name a few have made deciding on the appropriate product for your home or office use, tricky indeed.

New wireless and battery powered products appear to be coming to market almost everyday lately. The Smart Lock industry is valued at $30 Billion + and it stands to reason that many providers are aiming for a slice of the pie.

Not to devalue the burgeoning industry, we have found that many of the available battery powered lock products suffer from power issues. Specifically the continuing requirement for end users to regularly replace batteries to keep their products in perfect continuous operation. We find that a great many customers, who installed the latest battery powered products, tend to replace batteries about twice in the early use of the products and then revert back to using the mechanical key portion (override) because they get tired of the constant need to change batteries, adding significantly to the cost to maintain their products, effectively diminishing the value of their expensive battery powered lock product. Mechanical and key operated products are largely maintenance free.

Other issues not considered before purchasing can include, door and frame weathering, where doors and frames move with the changes of season preventing their motor driven products from aligning correctly into the strike hole (frame), adverse weather conditions - hot or cold temperatures affect battery life of externally mounted products.

Many users enjoy the ability to continually operate their locks, manually (mechanically) by using the mechanical operating key.

Many locksmiths across the world continue to supply and install great quality hardware that stand the tests of time and continue to provide almost maintenance free operation.

I realize that many homeowners like the idea of keyless lock systems, but in reality a keyed lock system provides increased security over combination entry systems especially when you cannot control the number of people who may have shared or continue to share your door entry codes.

What type of product have you on your doors?

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