Kenyan Teenager turns mobile phone into vehicle anti-theft system

A young kenyan boy named Morris Mbetsa, with no formal training beyond a high school diploma, has invented a system that will alert the user via mobile phone if his or her car is started. Then the owner can decide whether to call the cops, kill the cars engine by sending it a code, or listen in on the presumed theives' conversation.

The system, that Mbetsa created by combining technology from projects that he has completed in the past, uses a combination of voice, DTMF and SMS text messages over cell-based phone service to carry codes and messages that allow control of some of a vehicles’ electrical systems including the ignition to manage vehicle activation and disabling remotely in real time.

Another feature of the system is the capacity to poll the vehicle owner by mobile phone for permission to start when the ignition is turned in real time as well as eavesdrop on conversation in the vehicle.