The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) has officially announced the Digital Key Release 1.0 specification, a set of standardized solutions that allow drivers to download digital vehicle key on their smartphones.For those who aren’t familiar with CCC, it’s an organization that aims to promote the seamless connection between smartphones and vehicles. The new Digital Key 1.0 Release specification issued by the group will apply to all participating members, including Apple, Samsung, and Qualcomm.The new Digital Key specification (using NFC technology) is designed to create a "robust ecosystem" around the use of interoperable digital key use cases. It allows the driver to lock the car, unlock, start the engine, and use smartphones to share the vehicle's access rights with reliable user authentication.This is a secure system that allows depots to use a Trusted Service Manager framework to transfer digital vehicle keys to smartphones that use NFC technology and connect directly to the device's security elements. At present, Audi and Volkswagen are planning to roll out the service in the near future.Image Via CCC