Many attempts to make the humble keyring even more useful simply add one extra feature, two at most. The GOkey's ability to charge your phone, connect your devices, find your keys or phone and store your data must surely make it one of the most feature-loaded keyrings around.
The GOkey is available in black or white. It is made of plastic and has a metal enclosure for its main parts. Although not the smallest keyring you'll have come across, the device is designed to be small enough to remain relatively unobtrusive. The manufacturers say that their aim was to create something with a big enough battery to provide a worthwhile emergency charge for a smartphone, while keeping the device small enough for a keychain.
With that in mind, the GOkey's battery is 400 mAh, which the company says is aimed at charging your phone enough to keep it going for an hour or two in the event that it runs out of battery life just when you need it most. GOkey says it will provide "2 hours for regular use on an iPhone 5S. If your phone has a bigger battery, or if you are watching videos for example, that will be less."
GOkey itself is charged by plugging it into a USB port. An LED indicates the approximate amount of remaining charge. By shaking the device, users will cause the LED to glow green if it has over 20 percent of remaining charge or red if below.
A user can charge their mobile device using the GOkey's built-in micro-USB cable. The cable is also used as a device connector. When the plugged into a normal-sized USB port of, say, a computer or a portable speaker, the micro-USB cable can be connected at the other end to a mobile device.
Users can also store documents and files on GOkey's built-in flash memory, which is available in 8, 16 or 32 GB capacities, with data protected by password and 128 bit encryption.
In order to provide its item-locator functionality, the GOkey also has Bluetooth functionality. This allows users to locate their keys using a smartphone or locate the smartphone using their keys. According to GOkey, the keyring will connect with a user's phone for up to 100 ft (30 m), within which range the GOkey mobile app (available for iOS, Android and Windows) will indicate how far from the user's phone their keys are by way of signal strength. The app can also be used to make the GOkey itself ring, to help the user locate their keys.
If a user has left their keys out of range of their phone, the app remembers where they have been left. If a user has misplaced their phone, on the other hand, a button on the GOkey can be pressed to make the phone ring. This, of course, is only of use if the device is nearby.
GOkey's button can also be used to control other apps on a user's smartphone. It can be used to take a photo or start a video recording, skip to the next slide in a presentation, play, pause or skip songs when listening to music or answer/reject incoming calls.
GOkey is currently raising funds on Indiegogo and, at the time of writing, has smashed through its target. Individuals can pledge US$59 to receive a GOkey (assuming the campaign and production goes to plan) and also refer up to six other people with a $10 referral for each, meaning it's possibly to recoup your outlay.
The video below provides an introduction to GOkey.
