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Smart lock company Otto is suspending operations after a failed acquisition agreement. In a blog post late last year, CEO and founder Sam Jadallah says the company made an acquisition deal that limited its ability to fundraise, but the buyer pulled out at the last minute, leaving Otto with no remaining cash. The first locks were supposed to ship within the next few weeks, but "Otto will not ship next month and it may never ship," says Jadallah. The company will "evaluate [its] options" for moving forward in the coming weeks.
The Otto Lock was pitched as a tiny and stylish, but very expensive, smart lock. It sold for $699, and was intended for wealthy homeowners.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/1/16838016/otto-smart-lock-startup-suspends-operations
(Score: 2) by edIII on Friday January 05 2018, @08:44PM (1 child)
Given the incredible exploits with Bluetooth and Intel chip flaws, I'm not sure any computer or security device in the world could be considered "locks" anymore. Not when I can run software on my phone that opens up your door, locks your gun safe so you can't open it, crashes all your iphones and androids to prevent emergency calls, and finally reroutes all communications from your router to my network instead :) *Maybe* if you have an old analog telephone you could defeat me, but I can cut the lines beforehand :) Only the security alarms with cellular backup might work, but most of those went defunct after TDMA was phased out. Even then, running my own version of an intercepting access point for cell phones that specifically blocks all the VPN connections making it work......
Is there any device out there that can't be owned in a matter of minutes with the right software and hardware?
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 05 2018, @09:11PM
The thing is, that knowledge is rare, and merely demonstrating that you can do such things puts you on a very short list...
All in all, I'd put a brick through a window first - just because anybody can do that, and bricks don't hold fingerprints well.
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