Yeah… the key fob remote start, RF between your key that you have to constantly replace the battery on and the car, will now require a subscription service to be active.
That’s just vindictive cash extraction for the sake of trying to improve quarterly profits. I hope it backfires on them.
Unfortunately, we’re hitting a point when “literally everything” has gone this route. Try to find a non-smart TV…
A non smart TV is just a computer monitor these days.
Over the air broadcasts still exist in my part of the world.
Unfortunately, those have neither the brightness nor the size to replace most TVs.
… though I guess 43" monitors are a thing. I thought 27s were huge.
I’ve heard that the commercial monitors are the way to go, they’re just “add a zero” to the price tag.
And Smart TVs still use that for data mining. 
We’re sorry, your free trial of windshield wipers has expired…
Nah, to get the free trial you register your card. They autobill you $99.95 / month after that for the “premium driving experience” package which includes functional wipers, headlights, turn signals, door locks, and seat/mirror adjustment.
On vehicles going back to 2018… wouldn’t demanding money to unlock a previously accessible system be a definition of ransomware?
Oof, speaking of which, standby for the actual vehicular ransomware attacks to start. Please submit payment of 0.05BTC to restore brake functionality.
Yeah, you may have to go with a dumb tuner and a projector if you want to fully avoid smart TVs.
Kinda-ish-not-really.
Every mfg is charging stupid amounts for connectivity services. Yota just tied some of their fob-remote-start functionality with their paid internet start service because they suck at tech.
Like every single one (besides Tesla, I guess) charges for basic ‘internet to remote start’ things. It’s just yota tied in the fob to the same thing.
The Ars take is misleading and they should feel bad about rehashing the same news (that a bunch of other sites did) in a stupid manner.
If it results in the same end result, what’s the difference? The headline is right: you still need to pay to use remote start with your fob.