Behind the scenes at chip firm NXP

Jeroen Keunen, a general manager at NXP, demonstrated a smart-car key designed for the BMW 7 series during a tour of the Dutch semiconductor company's research facility in Eindhoven, Holland, last week.

As well as unlocking the car, the key receives and displays information. It can show details such as the amount of fuel left in the petrol tank and the GPS data of the last known position of the car.

Despite the current economic gloom, NXP is still spending heavily on research and development. According to NXP Innovation Labs scientific director Gerard Beenker, 16 percent of the company's expenditure is used on R&D.

"That's a huge amount," Beenker told ZDNet UK. The company's research and development focuses on radio frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communications (NFC).