Based on state-of-the-art technology, iLOQ Ltd’s iLOQ NFC has been chosen as the winner of this year’s Detektor International Award in the Best Access Control Product 2016 category. This is the second time the company has received the award, having already won in 2008 with the iLOQ S10 locking system. Detektor is an international security industry publication whose annual awards are one of the most respected in the industry around the world. The main awards in the two other categories went to the United States and Japan. The awards were presented on 16 November at the Sectech event in Copenhagen, Denmark.
iLOQ NFC – the world’s first smart lock that harvests electricity from a smartphone
The awarded iLOQ NFC makes use of NFC technology in smartphones: the lock reads the access rights and harvests the power it needs from the phone. With the help of the technology, the phone becomes a key and the smart lock doesn’t need an external energy source, such as batteries or cabling.
The benefits of smart locks controlled by phones are obvious: simple creation, distribution and changing of access rights. However, until now, the problem for these locks has been that they have required an external power source, either batteries or cabling.
The background to the innovation is the company’s long experience with smart locks operating without batteries or cables. In 2007, iLOQ presented the world’s first electronic locking system, which got the electrical energy it needed from key insertion. The innovation continues to be unique as there is no other comparable battery-free system on the market. The iLOQ S10 locking system is a success story with close to one million keys in use.
“We combined our experience of smart locks functioning with minimal energy with the NFC smartphone’s ability to provide power,” explains Mika Pukari, iLOQ’s CEO and founder.
“In addition to being battery-free, the benefits of the iLOQ NFC are the system’s easy installation and zero-maintenance. These benefits combined with smooth use, in which access rights can be managed remotely, make it the best alternative for controlling access to electric and communications networks, for instance. It is particularly useful if you need to manage a large number of locks in a wide area safely,” Pukari continues.
The phone is the key, power source and the gateway to real-time access management
The iLOQ NFC lock is opened by holding the phone close to the lock. The knob is released for turning if the phone has an access right to the lock. The intelligent core is suitable for almost all types of lock cylinders, key tubes, padlocks and cam locks. The lock is easy and fast to install in place of the existing lock cylinder without having to do any alteration work on the door. Real-time access right management is handled by the iLOQ Manager cloud-service.
The globally unique iLOQ NFC technology is ready for use and patented, and the first customer deliveries to selected customers have begun. Sales of the product to all customers will begin in the first half of 2017.
See here a video on how the iLOQ NFC works and read more at the address www.iLOQ.com/NFC
See here Detektor’s video about the winners.
iLOQ NFC – benefits in brief
- Phone functions as a key: Creating, sharing and revoking access rights takes place safely and easily with a few clicks through a cloud service. The smart locking system does not require any heavy IT infrastructure to operate.
- Easy installation: The lock is easy and fast to install in place of the existing lock cylinder without cabling or changes to the door.
- Zero-maintenance: No battery changes, no lock cylinder maintenance.
- Value for money maintenance expenses: No maintenance requirements or expenses arising from collecting and delivering keys.
- Suitable for tough conditions: The lock is dust and weather proof from the knob side.
- High security level: Phone is identified by the PKI encryption system (Public Key Infrastructure, PKI), the lock and phone identify one another (mutual authentication) using AES-256 encryption. Lock events can be reported in real-time to the cloud service.
- Wide compatibility: iLOQ NFC functions using a smartphone application which will first be available for Android phones. Users who do not have a compatible NFC phone are offered the iLOQ Fob with a Bluetooth connection.
- Environmentally friendly: Minimizes battery waste.
iLOQ Ltd. is a Finnish company that transforms mechanical locking into digital access management. iLOQ provides self-powered digital locking and access management that is revolutionizing the locking industry, as digital cameras transformed photography. iLOQ sets new standards in locking security.
In 2007 iLOQ introduced the world’s first self-powered digital lock. iLOQ S10 is the first and the only electronic lock cylinder in the world that self-powers by harvesting electricity from key insertion. iLOQ digital locking offers easier and more secure access management than mechanical locking, with significantly lower maintenance and lifecycle costs than traditional electromechanical locking. Certified by e.g. SKG, SBSC, VdS, PIV (EN15684) and FK. Awarded with the IFSEC Security Industry 2008 award, the Detektor International 2008 award and Innosuomi 2008 award.
iLOQ NFC product line confirms iLOQ’s position as an indisputable trailblazer in self-powered locking.
Founded: 2003
Net sales (2015): 23 million Euros (+27%)
Ranked as number one in the 2013 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Finland and fastest growing Greentech Company in the 2013 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA.
Read more about us at www.iLOQ.com
