At the 2016 CES, BMW gave first insight into the prototype for a personalized digital assistant to support individual mobility: BMW Connected.
BMW Connected empowers all the different digital end devices to provide bespoke access to the information needed to match individual contexts. And now, BMW is putting that tech to work by preparing to launch a digital helper that lets drivers locate a nearby restaurant with free tables, book seats and find the best route there.
The new service will be available in the next few months, according to Dieter May, head of the manufacturer’s digital services and business models unit.
An important part of BMW Connected is universal integration embedded in all the vehicles fitted with BMW ConnectedDrive. This might be the user’s own BMW, but it could also be a vehicle from Drive Now or a BMW being driven as a hire car – all the relevant information is seamlessly accessible. Even when the driver leaves the vehicle, all the data are displayed on different digital end devices – thanks to a cloud-based architecture.
According to May, BMW is in talks with third-party providers such as weather forecasters to supply more content. May’s unit, with offices in Munich, Chicago and Shanghai, was created in 2015 and has a workforce of about 150 employees. They’re assigned to come up with new digital products within weeks, in contrast to car-development cycles that take several years.
[Source: Bloomberg]
