German Car Zone

ConnectedDrive, BMW’s ground-breaking safety and assistance telematics service, is expected to be supplied on 30,000 new BMW cars in the UK in 2008, bringing added peace-of-mind and convenience to drivers. ConnectedDrive offers drivers a dedicated website and a unique combination of facilities, emergency and breakdown assistance as well as driver convenience services, with new features such as Google Send-to-Car and RSS internet information feeds directly into the car.

The Google Send-to-Car feature marks a partnership with Google, the world’s most frequented internet portal, and offers BMW drivers an innovative new proposition. The time-consuming destination selection process of navigation systems has been virtually eliminated. The driver can now select one or more destinations through Google maps from the comfort of their work or home office. These are then sent directly from their PC to the car through the ConnectedDrive web portal. Once in the car, the driver simply accepts the destination, saving time and ensuring that their full focus is on driving.
Another new feature is the use of RSS news feeds into a car (except Z4 and X3 models). This new innovation gives the owner of a ConnectedDrive-equipped car the opportunity of ‘clicking and dragging’ RSS feeds from the internet into the ConnectedDrive web portal. In the car, those RSS internet news and information feeds are then displayed in the iDrive screen when the car is stationary.

In addition, the driver has access, through a manned call centre (not a computerised database), to a vast listing of UK locations such as cinemas, restaurants and sports facilities. One call to the Information Plus operator finds the desired destination which, like the Google system, is then sent to the car and accepted as a destination.
Alongside these notable driver aids, the safety benefits of the existing eCall emergency connection to the 999 emergency services and bCall link to the BMW breakdown service remain. The BMW breakdown service confirms that January is their busiest month for roadside assistance and in the event of an accident, the driver only has to press the SOS button from the on-board monitor or in the roof lining to gain instant access to the Police, Ambulance or Fire services through the 999 emergency services.
If the driver is involved in a severe incident and the airbag is deployed, the eCall element of BMW ConnectedDrive takes over and automatically instigates contact with the 999 emergency services. If the driver is incapacitated and thus the operator receives no feedback, the car has already sent the navigation co-ordinates of the location using the embedded SIM card to the emergency services call centre for help to be dispatched. Equally, if the BMW driver witnesses a serious accident, he can inform the 999 emergency services through the eCall system, potentially saving other road users’ lives.

And there are already many instances of where ConnectedDrive has literally saved lives. One situation occurred when a BMW X5 was involved in an accident that rendered the driver unconscious. As the airbag deployed, the car instantly contacted the 999 emergency services who were dispatched to the location of the incident, arriving before the driver had regained consciousness. The car was written off as a result of this accident, but the driver potentially saved from serious injury.
ConnectedDrive is supplied as standard on all new BMW cars equipped with Navigation and Bluetooth mobile telephone connectivity for three years, with BMW expecting 30,000 cars to be specified with the options in 2008.

4wheelsblog.com BMW ConnectedDrive adds safety to 30,000 cars in 2008 Car Reviews, Car Shows, Spy photos, Auto news, New cars

PRESS RELEASE:
World Debut for Unrestricted Use of the Internet:
BMW ConnectedDrive Brings the World Wide Web to the Car Display in a BMW.

Sheer driving pleasure and the joy of surfing. BMW combines the thrill of mobility and unrestricted use of the internet. As the world's first car maker, BMW allows unrestricted access to the World Wide Web in the car's display.

Offering this outstanding innovation, BMW ConnectedDrive gives the driver and his passengers the option to surf the internet while travelling, calling up any random internet site either by entering the URL address through the iDrive control system or via a personalised list of favourites, and then presenting the website on the central display in the instrument panel.

This system developed in the context of BMW ConnectedDrive is the consistent enhancement of the intelligent network connecting the driver, the car and their surroundings. Following the highly beneficial features already offered by BMW Online and the option presented in summer 2007 to use the Google online search machine and its various categories in the car, BMW ConnectedDrive now for the first time offers genuine internet in a BMW.

As in the case of BMW Online with direct access to Google, BMW is now once again taking on the leading role in providing online services in the car. Again, therefore, the world's largest manufacturer of premium automobiles is proving its competence in the area of vehicle electronics.

As a special offer by BMW ConnectedDrive, internet surfing in the car will be available as an optional extra in BMW's production models straight from the factory in the course of 2008. The version presented at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show is a prototype very close to series production.

Also when using the internet: Maximum convenience thanks to BMW iDrive

BMW ConnectedDrive brings the complete World Wide Web into the car on the display, offering more functions all in one go than the driver will usually enjoy on the internet in his office or on his PC at home. This is made possible by the unique BMW iDrive control system activating and masterminding all telecommunication, entertainment, navigation and air conditioning functions via the Controller on the centre console and the centre display in the dashboard.

In using the internet, the BMW iDrive Controller acts in the same way as a conventional computer mouse: Moving the Controller in various directions, the user is able to move the mouse on the internet site shown in the display. Then, pressing the Controller, the user clicks the mouse on the PC to select links or specific items in the menu. By turning the Controller, finally, the user scrolls up and down to the appropriate internet site.

The display presents internet sites in high resolution, an additional function serving to enlarge specific sections on the display by a factor of 1.5 or 2.

The presentation of internet sites on the display is only possible for safety reasons with the car at a standstill. As with the configuration of TV and/or DVD functions available as an option on cars with BMW iDrive, the internet site disappears as soon as the vehicle exceeds a speed of 5 km/h. But on models equipped with an optional DVD system in the rear, the internet function might also be added, allowing passengers on the rear seats to surf the net also when driving at higher speeds above 5 km/h.

High-resolution presentation, fast data transfer

Apart from high-resolution presentation of web contents on the display, fast transfer of data is also guaranteed, with data transfer based on EDGE technology (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), which, unlike third-generation telephony, is already available on a broad scale and is three to four times faster than GPRS mobile connections.

A special BMW server quickly transfers internet sites into the car and ensures optimum presentation on the display. It also optimises flash animations and other so-called applets with extremely high data volume, which might otherwise slow down the fast transmission rate required. In this way, therefore, BMW ConnectedDrive ensures improved data transfer for comfortable surfing within the car.

A further option is to receive and send e-mails straight from the car, with additional applications such as online banking also being conceivable in full in future.

Using the existing BMW Online portal in the internet, BMW is already the first car maker to offer, through BMW ConnectedDrive, the option to transmit navigation destinations generated by Google Maps into the car from any PC. Then the address data may be used directly in the car as navigation and telephone dial destinations. In the near future, therefore, the BMW Online portal in the internet will allow the configuration of web addresses shown in the car as favourites on the car's internet starting page.

Over and above the activation of links on the internet sites shown in the display and the choice of web addresses as favourites, BMW also allows the direct selection of new contents simply by entering a URL. To do this, all the user has to do is enter the URL in the browser's address field, also using other entry fields on internet sites. The entries are made via a selection of letters which, in their function, correspond to the entry of addresses in BMW navigation systems, with convenience and ease of operation being optimised once again.

Whenever the car is used by several drivers one after the other, personalised starting pages may be installed without problems. In that case each driver is able to retrieve the starting page he requires by making his personal registration in the system.

Surfing the internet in the car's display will be available before the end of this year as a new offer from BMW ConnectedDrive installed directly at the factory and provided together with an unlimited data flatrate.

BMW ConnectedDrive: optimum mobility, maximum comfort

Offering internet on the car's screen as an outstanding innovation, BMW is once again making a pioneering breakthrough in the area of intelligent networking, bringing together the driver, the car and the world around them and consistently enhancing the wide range of internet-based services already offered since 2001.

BMW combines such individual online, assistance and service systems in the car under the general term "BMW ConnectedDrive" referring to services which may be used directly through the navigation system or over the telephone in the interest of significantly enhanced comfort and safety.

One example is BMW Assist which, apart from providing an emergency call function and the latest traffic information, also offers a personal enquiry service. Data requested on restaurants, cinemas or hotels may, for example, be fed directly into the BMW navigation system as the driver's destination. Internet-based services such as stock values, the weather report and free parking space, in turn, are covered by BMW Online. And BMW TeleServices, finally, registers the car independently and automatically with the customer's BMW Service Partner whenever service is required.

This wide range of internet-based services in the car and the technology involved has been consistently enhanced since 2001. Integrating such services completely in the car's electronics, BMW Online has a unique position in the market to this day. Such integration of services allows convenient access to local information in the car, BMW Online now also comprising mobility services such as looking for parking space and orientation by mobile phone and an e-mail account with an address directory, information on travel and leisure-time activities as well as hotels and restaurants, an enquiry service, news and weather, the "My News" (RSS feeds), as well as business news and the stock exchange.

In summer 2007 BMW became the world's first car maker to offer the Google search function in the car, allowing users throughout Germany to retrieve local information directly from the internet through the world's best-known online search machine. The information obtained is then presented conveniently at the touch of a button in the navigation system and also goes to the user's mobile phone. The system detects the location and destination of the car independently and presents the results obtained in the area covered together with their address, telephone number and distance, enabling the user to search for names and addresses in a local directory, for example the addresses of restaurants, hotels, filling stations, banks, supermarkets, cinemas or local authorities.

The Google search function in the car consistently enhances the intelligent link of the car and the internet. Introducing the "Send to Car" function, Google and BMW already offered the possibility before to send search results from the Google Maps website directly to the car. And now the Google services search function provides direct access to the internet from the car itself as a further milestone in BMW ConnectedDrive.

[Source: BMW via Autoblog.com]

World debut for unrestricted in-car Internet access

BMW Assist, Google Maps Make Sweet Love, Give Birth To "MyInfo" Service For New Big-Ass X6


BMW's teaming up with everyone's favorite mapping monopoly, Google Maps, to bring a new addition to the BMW Assist Safety Plan. It's called "MyInfo," and it's a service which, in addition to sounding hip and techie-cool through deletion of the spaces in the name, will allow BMW Assist subscribers to send business locations, street addresses and their associated phone numbers to their car via some magical connection between the two companies databases. Look at it kind of like a way to use their ConnectedDrive feature from your home. You may already have intimate knowledge of what that's like if you've ever opened up a browser and spent any time at Google's "Local Search" page. The MyInfo system will be available in the BMW X5, X6, 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 Series, effective with Model Year 2009, but for 2008 will only be available in the new big-reared 2008 BMW X6 — which, as you can see through the link, we've already had the privilege of road-testing. Starting four days ago, in 2008 X6 "Sports Activity Coupes" equipped with the BMW Assist and Bluetooth systems, customers will be able to call the phone numbers received with their Bluetooth connected mobile phone or, if their BMW is equipped with a navigation system, immediately start route guidance by a simple push of a button. Not to shabby a plan if you ask us. But BMW isn't the first to offer space-deleting net-based navigation connectivity.
http://jalopnik.com/379103/bmw-assist-google-maps-make-sweet-love-give-birth-to-myinfo-service-for-new-big+ass-x6

Google Maps - Send to BMW

BMW's in-car internet coming to U.S. later this year


It looks like BMW will begin rolling out its in-car internet system to markets outside of Germany sooner than expected, according to Automotive News. ConnectedDriveoffers unrestricted access to the Web through the EDGE network, one of the faster mobile connections on the planet, and while backseat passengers can surf while on the go, front seat occupants will have to keep their speed under 5 kph if they want to check their favorite websites. BMW is setting up the system so that unlimited access will cost customers 15 euros each month.

BMW will begin offering the service to German consumers this September, with ConnectedDrive coming to 'Net-addicted Bimmer owners throughout Europe and the U.S. soon afterwards. AN contacted Mercedes-Benz and Audi to ask if they intended to offer similar systems in the future. Both of automakers responded in the negative, saying that demand isn't sufficient enough to justify the expense. BMW obviously thinks otherwise, as does Chrysler, which is developing its own system, due out before the end of the year.
autoblog

That's a pretty heavy restriction considering that TV-function works for speeds up to 20km/h and such. But I'm all for it since I can image the under of deaths which can be caused by people facebooking while driving.

What antivirus does it have? And a firewall?

Can't imagine if you have a virus in the system... Hope it's completely independant from the rest of the board electronics...

You need some anti adult website software as well.

The connection goes via BMW proxy servers - which are heavily protected with anti-virus & firewall software.