key fob

車のドアを開けたり，エンジンをかけるのに，「キー」が必要でなくなる時代がもうそこまで来ています。記事はthe New York Timesからの引用です。
fob自体は「時計入れ用小ポケット」や「懐中時計の鎖[ひも, リボン](fob chain); その先に付ける飾り」を指し，fob watch（懐中時計）のような使い方もあります（『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』小学館）。
そして今回のkey fobは「キーホルダーサイズのリモコンやRFID（無線ICタグ）」という意味です（英辞郎on the WEB）。日本では「キーレスエントリー（鍵を使わず，音波や電波を用いてドアを施錠したり解錠するもの）」（『スーパー大辞林』三省堂）などと呼ばれることが多いですが，key fobという言い方は日本語ではあまり用いられていません。（Koyamamoto）

The Future of Car Keys? Smartphone Apps, Maybe
IT’S not fun getting into a car when the interior is 130 degrees, but that’s a typical problem during the summer for those who live in a city like Phoenix, where outside temperatures can regularly soar well past 100.
But Sean O’Gorman never needs to endure a furnacelike cabin. As an owner of a Tesla Model S, he opens an iPhone app a few minutes before he gets into the car and remotely starts his air-conditioner.
Mr. O’Gorman, 32, a software product manager, can also use the app to do things that previously only a physical key could do, and more: Start the engine, unlock the doors, turn on the heat and monitor the battery.
Tesla is not alone in offering those sorts of options; BMW, General Motors and Volvo, among other manufacturers, offer apps that perform similar functions.
They are just the latest step in the evolution of the car key away from the standard metal shaft used for decades, and still often used today, to unlock and start cars.
Now, car keys — or key fobs, as they are also known — include chips to prevent theft, cannot be duplicated at the local locksmith and often never have to be removed from pockets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/automobiles/wheels/the-future-of-car-keys-smartphone-apps-maybe.html?hpw&rref=automobiles&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0