ZipCar iPhone App Showcased at 2009 Apple WWDC

Here is another cool announcement that came from Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco this week. Zipcar, the venerable car sharing service, will soon release an iPhone application that handles every aspect of their renting process. First, it figures out where you are and shows you all of the closest available vehicles on the map. Clicking on any car provides you additional information including make and model along with hourly cost. In fact, you can get all of the same details that the website provides. You can even favorite particular cars for later. Once you select the automobile you so desire, you can reserve and confirm right there using the Zipcar iPhone app.

But here’s what really cool… Once you get in proximity of the car you have reserved the real magic takes place. It’s often difficult to find your own car in a massive parking lot or garage and even tougher to identify your Zipcar. So, there is a virtual remote on the Zipcar app that appears on the iPhone screen which allows you to both honk the horn as well as unlock the car. The days of search and find missions along with the task of holding up the Zipcard to the windshield reader are over. But wait… the fun doesn’t stop there. As part of this union, Zipcars will be outfitted with iPhone adapters so that now you can take your tunes with you as well.

You have to think that with all of the momentum Apple has with the various iPhone apps the other mobile outfits have to be scrambling. Slowly but surely, the iPhone is being woven into the very fabric of our society. For example, the days when your iPhone will be able talk to your car’s diagnostic system and tell you what’s wrong or remap your engine programming for better performance are almost here. Once automotive wireless systems enter the mix I can only imagine what’s in store. But for now, I’m excited by the added convenience of things like the Zipcar iPhone app and am really looking forward to seeing what’s next.

Source: 2009 Apple WWDC | Images: Apple, WWDC