BMW Group has developed interface technology that will allow applications on Apple devices like the iPhone and iPod Touch to be controlled and experienced with the BMW iDrive system.
The new features are in the final phase of development and will be available to BMW customers around the world, including SA, in the beginning of 2011, the car manufacturer says.
iDrive is a computer system which is used to control most secondary vehicle systems in many current BMW cars. iDrive's user interface consists of a LCD panel mounted in the dashboard and a controller knob mounted on the centre console.
The German car manufacturer says it will introduce the electronic device integration by supporting Apple's new iPod Out functionality.
According to BMW, this is part of its BMW Connected Drive strategy, which aims to optimise the connection between the driver, the vehicle and the driver's life outside the vehicle.
“The iPod Out enables BMW and Mini infotainment systems to display and control the music playback feature in iPhone and iPod Touch in the vehicle's main display,” BMW says.
The on-board monitor in BMW and Mini vehicles provides users with the integrated iPod navigation menu, which can be safely operated through the vehicle's interface controls, it adds.
Additionally, this will have iPod features such as custom playlists and Genius, which creates a playlist of songs from a user's own library and is immediately made available to BMW and Mini drivers through the vehicle's main display.
“iPod Out requires iOS 4 with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch (second and third generation),” it says. The company adds that future vehicles equipped with this technology will be able to adapt more quickly to the software life cycles of the iPod touch and iPhone.
According to BMW, it integrated iPod in its audio system in 2004, and the following year a corresponding solution was presented for Mini. In line with the release of the iPhone in 2007, it also offered an exclusive technological solution for integrating iPhone in the infotainment system of its vehicles.
This interface technology was developed through the collaboration of the BMW Research and Development Centre in Munich, Germany, and the BMW Group Technology Office Palo Alto in Silicon Valley, California.
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