Many holiday travellers will go to extreme lengths to ensure their packed luggage is safe and secure – from locks to shrink-wrapping and cable-ties. While there are a plethora of smart locks in the market now, most of them are expensive and may even require WiFi, or at least some form of internet connectivity, to function. However, Australia-based AirBolt, with its new Bluetooth-enabled, remotely-controlled lock, is gradually changing that perception.

The brainchild of Kabir Sidhu, AirBolt does not require Internet, hence is suitable for deployment in many parts of Southeast Asia where Internet may not be the most stable, and in areas ranging from basements, to beaches and even mountains.

For passengers who check in their luggage, a disproportionate amount of their time from the airplane to the exit is often spent at the conveyor belt. According to SITA’s 2016 Passenger IT Trends Survey, while 88% of passengers are okay to wait 10 minutes for bag collection, sometimes these waits extend to 15, 20 or even 50 minutes at airports across Southeast Asia. This usually leads to anxiety and sometimes panic of bags being lost.

AirBolt: The Truly Smart Travel Lock

AirBolt keeps track of the distance between you and the lock to make sure you know where it is or can report its theft immediately. So, passengers will know when luggage is arriving, or if it has arrived already, and has been moved to another location. That range of distance also applies to security. Only the owner’s phone can unlock the baggage, within a specified range of the bag. AirBolt has also anticipated that one might lend out the lock, so it opens up access to an exclusive list of people and even change the settings to open it from abroad.

AirBolt has also anticipated that one might lend out the lock, so it opens up access to an exclusive list of people and even change the settings to open it from abroad.

Moreover, if your phone stops working, the company gives you the option to open it manually as well, with an optional passcode that can be entered by click pattern on the device itself. This also helps prevent unauthorized access to your luggage by someone who might have your phone.

For those worried about battery life amidst their hectic schedules of travelling, the lock is designed to have an eternal shelf life. It only needs to be charged once a year, but will last almost 500 charge cycles.

AirBolt iOS App

Track Log Info

You can see log info and check where and how the lock was opened

Location tracker

Track exact location of lock

Battery Status

Check battery status and play alarm to track AirBolt

And lastly, but most importantly, AirBolt stresses on its affordability factor. The lock works with most zipper sizes and is far cheaper than an entire smart luggage package.

Read more about the conception of AirBolt, here.

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Sharing is not only resource effective but often a richer experience. Airbnb is the poster child of sharing economy and there are countless stories of how it served as a bridge between cultures. There are many who host on the platform to open up their doors to different kind of people. However, it doesn’t come without its own set of challenges. One might not always be available for the guests. Some people choose to list their property when they are travelling themselves. Such scenarios limit how and when homeowners can host on Airbnb.

As Airbnb hosts, the co-founders of igloohome faced similar challenges often. It wasn’t always possible to be available for them to exchange keys physically, more so when guests wanted to check in at odd hours. They wanted to enhance the experience of both hosts and guests, and therefore set out to eliminate such problems. Entered two products that allow homeowners to enable access for guests without being present at the property to physically exchange keys or relying on a third party.

Starting off with Airbnb, igloohome soon discovered that managing access is not a problem limited to Airbnb. Most home and property owners faced similar issues so they developed the products and app further to cater to different market segments.

Formally incorporated in July 2015, igloohome was quick to gain popularity all over. They share that hosts, especially the ones having multiple listings, often express how they have been looking for a solution like this for long. The name comes from igloos. The founders wanted a name that was indicative of smart design, unique experience and security to resonate with what the solutions are created for.

In November 2015, igloohome was announced as a preferred ‘Keys & Access’ vendor for Airbnb during the Airbnb Open at Paris. Since its inception, igloohome has also received various awards including Orange Fab Asia Pitch Competition 2015, Global Brain Challenge 2015, TiE50 Top Startup Award 2016 and was one of the finalists in SXSW V2Venture 2015.

The company has created two products- Smart Deadbolt 02 and Smart Keybox, both designed to provide 24 hour access controlled by igloohome mobile app. Interestingly, the products work offline unlike some other solutions that rely on continuous internet connectivity (and thus are more vulnerable). igloohome relies on technology similar to that of an internet banking token, which involves cryptography and synchronisation to handle operations. The access is granted via PIN codes that not only allow the guests to open the lock but also include the information about access period. Once it is past the end time, the PIN code or Bluetooth key is no longer valid.

As igloohome is a preferred Airbnb partner, the app can also sync up a host’s Airbnb calendar with the lock. This way, PIN codes can be automatically generated for the guest’s duration of stay and sent directly to the guest.

Based out of Singapore, igloohome is quickly expanding in US and Asia Pacific. They have received interest from Spain, Brazil, UK, Denmark, India, Japan and China as well, and are working to build up strong distribution channels in these countries. You can find more details at igloohome.co.

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Smart luggage options are definitely making lot of news recently and are trying to replace our conventional bags. Most smart luggage options are utilising tech to simplify the life of modern traveller. But then these smart bags come costly and you can’t replace all your old favourite bags right away.

Australian startup Airbolt tries to add tech to those bags and have the essential features of a smart bag. They have developed a smart Bluetooth travel lock that can be used with any luggage and controlled using your smartphone. We spoke with Kabir Sidhu, the founder of Airbolt to learn more about the product:

Please tell us more about the idea, the project, the company

The idea of the AirBolt began with my own frustrations. I was travelling to the U.S. early last year and after a 15-hour flight, I arrived in my hotel room. Tired and just wanting to get some rest, I walked up to my suitcase and tried to unlock my combination lock. It simply wouldn’t unlock! No matter how many times I tried. I had even written my combination down just in case and phoned home as well to check. It was then I realised that the combination had been reset somehow. Oh, the frustration! Now just like most people, I did not have a bolt cutter on me and neither did I want to damage my suitcase to open it. So, I spent the next 45 minutes going through all possible combinations to unlock it. This got me thinking, there has to be a better way. I looked, and found there wasn’t. So I took it upon myself, to solve the problem. Hence, AirBolt was born.

It has now taken 1.5 years to get to the stage we are at now. We have a solid team, each with their own expertise and ideologies. We are dynamic, fun and of all different ages.

How did you fund the project?

I essentially bootstrapped the company. I have worked at another company full-time, plus had some reoccurring income from my previous business. I used the money together plus sold investments in order to put together the capital to ensure this company has solid foundations. Whilst it has been extremely long hours and late nights, so far, it has been rewarding in terms of the challenges and dynamics it brings to the table.

As an entrepreneur, what is your motivation?

I love seeing that the aspect of everyday work I undertake at AirBolt simplifies and enhances people’s lives. If I am making an impact of some sort in a positive way, then I feel a strong sense of satisfaction.  I believe that doing what you like in life, is always the best pathway you should take and this is the pathway I have chosen. It keeps me feeling fulfilled and challenges me to strive further.

How is AirBolt better than the other options on the market?

The AirBolt offers a whole variety of benefits versus other options on the market. It brings innovation both in terms of design and technology.

When you pick up the AirBolt for the very first time, it is nothing like you’ve seen before, yet when start using it, the operation is completely natural and intuitive. We have redesigned and re-imagined what a travel lock looks like and tried to break completely away from any generic designs we currently see out there in the market.

Current travel locks just offer one way of securing your luggage – simply by using the latch as it sits. With AirBolt’s patent pending design as seen below, you choose how to lock your luggage – meaning you can potentially even zip multiple zips with one lock.

When it comes to technology, AirBolt comes packed with many features. We are one of the first to adopt the new Bluetooth 4.2 protocol and new chipsets which offer better battery life and responsiveness. We actually plan to take full advantage of the protocols enhanced security and communication protocols in order to rapidly expand our network especially as it may allow us to create large mesh networks. Keeping with our strategy of reinventing the travel lock we made sure that everything we did aligned with this thought stream. One such example is with TSA. Whilst the TSA barrel still exists and requires a specialised key, it still activates the lock electronically with our new patent pending design. Why does this matter? Well, you can now just turn off TSA access from the app. Meaning that inserting and turning the key won’t activate the lock. Perfect for the times you are travelling to countries that don’t use TSA master keys at Airport security checkpoints.

Are there any advantages over full smart luggage packs?

As compared to other smart luggage packs, we fit all the technology into a small package. This means that you can make anything you secure with the AirBolt smart. Many people love the smart features available these days but have a ton of bags lying around at home ready to use. Well, with the AirBolt there is no need to spend hundreds of dollars on a new bag.

What developments can we look forward to in the future?

This is step 1 and I want to do much more for AirBolt. The climb up is a learning curve but I do believe I am ready for the challenge. Having said this, when I started AirBolt, I wanted to ensure that the technology we develop is versatile and adaptable to a whole set of applications. I can confidently say that we have achieved that. Not only can developers around the world expand the features to their liking, we’ll be expanding the product line as well. Adding “siblings” to AirBolt: The Truly Smart Travel Lock. What “siblings”? Well let’s say we have some really cool ideas but for now, we will have to keep it a surprise.

AirBolt has been raising funds on Kickstarter and will be funded on December 12. You can find more details about AirBolt here.

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