Video:BMW Group To Launch Stitcher Integration
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.
Official Release:
BMW Group Partners with Stitcher to Make Stitcher Radio iPhone App BMW Apps and MINI Connected Ready
Woodcliff Lake, NJ – March 12, 2012…. The BMW Group and Stitcher are cooperating to make the Stitcher Smart Radio iPhone App compatible with vehicles equipped with the groundbreaking BMW Apps and MINI Connected technologies. Once completed, BMW and MINI customers will be able to easily and safely access unique features of Stitcher’s on-demand streaming service in vehicles equipped with the BMW Apps or MINI Connected options. BMW Group will demonstrate a prototype of the forthcoming Stitcher iPhone App for media during the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) conference in Austin, Texas, on Monday, March 12.
“As promised, the BMW Group continues to deliver great, new services like Stitcher to our worldwide customers via the groundbreaking platforms of MINI Connected and BMW Apps,” said Uwe Higgen, head of the international BMW AppCenter network, based in Munich, Germany. Development of the Stitcher app will commence via the BMW AppCenter Mountain View, California, which continuously scouts for new services in the Silicon Valley and the greater North American market.
When integration is complete, a simple update to the Stitcher iPhone app through the iTunes App Store will enable a host of Stitcher’s unique entertainment features to be integrated seamlessly into the car, where they can be easily operated using the already familiar BMW iDrive and MINI Connected systems. The prototype Stitcher app for the BMW Apps and the MINI Connected platforms will showcase the following unique capabilities:
• Seamless integration and control of Stitcher’s services through the vehicle’s infotainment system, which enables easy searches for content, the ability to provide feedback (“More Like This” and “Listeners Also Like”), and fast forward and rewind control
• The ability to create or remove custom stations on demand
• High-resolution visual display featuring album art and convenient show/episode information, such as latest episodes, duration and whether the listener has already listened to the episode
Stitcher offers the following features:
• Personalized playlists of listeners’ favorite shows
• Stitcher recommendation of other programs based on listening preferences towards the discovery of new shows and content
• The broadest selection of podcasts and live radio on-demand
• Stitcher SmartRadio enjoys a 4.5 star consumer rating and #1 ranking in the iTunes App Store’s News category
via Engadget
<p>I think they need to work on letting the apps work in the background. It’s really annoying to only be able to choose one app to interface with. I would like to be able to access MOG and Mini connected at the same time. </p>
<p>I am not sure how that works on the MINI with MOG but with the BMW you can have different apps running.</p>
<p>MOG is going belly up so that app will be short lived.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with Stitcher. Can someone who uses it tell us more about the app itself (outside of integration with MINI Connected)? Do you like it/use it?</p>
<p>Stitcher is a podcast delivery service. If you like to listen to podcasts (White Roof Radio, for example) but don’t have the latest episode downloaded to your phone, you can search for that podcast on Stitcher and it will stream it to you. This is especially handy if the podcast you’d like to listen to is larger than the 3G file download size limit of your carrier, and you don’t have access to WiFi at the time (such as in the car). The only time I ever use it is on road trips, but it’s very handy in those situations when I’m just looking for something else to listen to.</p>
<p>The only drawback is that some popular podcasts are not available and only the most recent episodes of the podcasts they do have are available for streaming. So if, for example, you wanted to listen to the three most recent episodes of WRR, you’d be out of luck with Stitcher. But you could at least get to the latest single episode, which is definitely better than nothing.</p>
<p>Thanks @NathanielSalzman:disqus for taking the time to explain. If I can’t listen to my WRR, then it can’t be much good then, can it? ;)</p>