Apple Watch finds car love

Cars are becoming increasingly sophisticated and many vehicles are capable of communicating with smartphones even when they're not running.

But if you thought that checking your phone to see if your car is locked, or want to find where it's parked, was a laborious process that wasted time and energy, you can now achieve all that simply by cocking your wrist.

Yep, there's an even easier way to check the status of your BMW or Porsche, after both companies announced app compatibility with the new Apple Watch.

The BMW i Remote and Porsche Car Connect apps can now be synched through the Apple Watch, which allow for some interaction but generally just monitoring of one's vehicle.

Owners of the BMW i3 or i8 electric cars can look at their watch to check the battery charge level and cruising range status, and also to see if the doors are locked.

Users can also remotely initiate the climate-control system and if drivers can't find their car in the car park, a simple navigation system acts as a guide.

Some Porsches that work with the Porsche Car Connect app cars can remotely lock the vehicle via the Apple Watch, or even engage the horn and lights to scare people.

But these features mark just the beginning of a symbiosis between vehicles and wearable technology that could spell the end of keys altogether.

The Samsung Galaxy Gear watch brought the same connectivity for the BMW i3 and i8 more than a year ago, and as more car manufacturers jump on the wearable technology bandwagon there'll be more and more innovative features.

The Porsche Car Connect app is not available to Australians but i3 and i8 owners can use the BMW i Remote app with the Apple Watch.