Sep 15th, 2012
BMW and MINI have both diversified their smartphone integration that started with iOS to include the Android platform. Yet the iPhone and iOS remain the most important mobile platform for either brand. So it only makes sense for us (and many of you) to take note when Apple releases a completely new iPhone. Especially one that includes a new connector. So what does it mean for current an future MINI owners? Read on to find out.
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Aug 24th, 2012
A new update to MINI Connected is available for download through iTunes. Existing users should see the update as available on their iPhones as well. Enhancements include updates to Foursquare functionality, access to your iPhone calendar and new features in the MINIMALISM Analyser. Full update description after the jump.
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Aug 6th, 2012
Beginning today, owners of BMW models equipped with the Apps option and MINI models equipped with MINI Connected can enjoy a fully integrated Stitcher SmartRadio™ app experience in their vehicle. Stitcher SmartRadio is the mobile leader in on?demand news, entertainment, sports and talk radio, delivering over 10,000 radio shows and live stations to customers around the globe. continued →
Jul 10th, 2012
It’s been two years since MINI and BMW released the first automotive app-based integration of the iPhone. The system allows apps on the iPhone to be fully integrated into the car’s display complete with automotive-grade usability and functionality. Today BMW is opening up that platform and allowing third-party developers to introduce their own applications. And based on the systems being identical, we expect MINI to do the same.
Apps extend the range of in-car services using the smartphone, making it possible to use features such as web radio, GoogleTM Local Search or Facebook safely and easily in the vehicle. But that’s just the start, as the application-based concept is designed to allow the use of “external” apps, paving the way for third-party services to be integrated into BMW and MINI models. With these third-party apps, the range of functions can basically be expanded at will: updating the app or installing another compatible app simply adds new functions, without having to make any modifications to the vehicle itself. continued →
Mar 12th, 2012
Today at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas BMW Group announced that the Stitcher Smart Radio iPhone App will be the next compatible app for iDrive/MINI Connected. Video of the prototype app in a BMW 650i and press release after the jump.
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Feb 27th, 2012
[Official Release] The AUPEO! Personal Radio iPhone app will soon be available for all current BMW and MINI models. Following the launch of the Pandora and MOG music services for the US product range in 2011, the BMW and MINI Connected Apps options will allow customers in Europe, too, to enjoy their own personal music service.
AUPEO! is a customisable internet radio service that uses a recommender system to allow music to be matched to listeners’ individual tastes. continued →
Dec 12th, 2011
Ever since MINI Connected debuted in 2010 for the iOS, people have been asking about Android. We’ve reported previously that the sheer number of different device types and hardware has made it very difficult to create a unified MINI Connected app for Android devices. Now we have the details.
With the exception of the BMW Android Remote app that will launch before the end of the year there will be no future offerings for the current crop of BMWs or MINIs. That specifically means no support for MINI’s in-car App platform MINI Connected. We learned this hard truth about the number one smartphone operating system from one of the BMW and MINI Connected Drive engineers during a recent trip to the FIZ (R&D center) in Munich.
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