2008 Geneva Motor Show: BMW Offers Unrestricted Internet Browsing
At the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, BMW plans to announce ConnectedDrive, which lets drivers and passengers surf the Internet while travelingthough fortunately not while actually moving at 75 mph. The new technology can hit any URL whatsoever, along with a list of custom favorites, and then show the result in the iDrive panel in the center of the dashboard.
You control the system with the iDrive controller, using it as a kind of clumsy version of a computer mouse. Turning the controller moves the cursor on the screen, while pressing it down acts as a left-button mouse click. You can also zoom into Web pages by a factor of 1.5 or 2.0, which makes the whole thing sound a lot like a glorified cell phone browser.
As noted above, the browser works only while the car is at a standstill. It works over EDGE technologyanother nod to cell phoneswhich means that you'd better have some coffee ready in one of the cupholders while you're waiting for Web pages to load. BMW reformats pages on their own servers (similar to Opera Mini on cell phones) and then sends them to the car display. You can also send and receive e-mail from the car, and will possibly (at a later date) be able to access online banking sites.
BMW ConnectedDrive will be available as an option in all BMW models over the course of 2008, and BMW plans to show a preproduction prototype version at the Geneva show.
At the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, BMW plans to announce ConnectedDrive, which lets drivers and passengers surf the Internet while travelingthough fortunately not while actually moving at 75 mph. The new technology can hit any URL whatsoever, along with a list of custom favorites, and then show the result in the iDrive panel in the center of the dashboard.
You control the system with the iDrive controller, using it as a kind of clumsy version of a computer mouse. Turning the controller moves the cursor on the screen, while pressing it down acts as a left-button mouse click. You can also zoom into Web pages by a factor of 1.5 or 2.0, which makes the whole thing sound a lot like a glorified cell phone browser.
As noted above, the browser works only while the car is at a standstill. It works over EDGE technologyanother nod to cell phoneswhich means that you'd better have some coffee ready in one of the cupholders while you're waiting for Web pages to load. BMW reformats pages on their own servers (similar to Opera Mini on cell phones) and then sends them to the car display. You can also send and receive e-mail from the car, and will possibly (at a later date) be able to access online banking sites.
BMW ConnectedDrive will be available as an option in all BMW models over the course of 2008, and BMW plans to show a preproduction prototype version at the Geneva show.
