2020 BMW Technology Day introduced 3 new functions in the car networking area:
1. Watermelon Video launched on BMW car machine.
Car owners can quickly get information during fragmented time, with a driving speed limit of 5 km/h. (Ps. At the Chengdu Auto Show, QQ Music and Himalayan APPs were seen in BMW car machines.)
There is nothing unexpected about introducing video functions into the car system. However, after most vehicles are introduced, they can only be used when parked. BMW, on the other hand, restricts this to speeds below 5 km/h. Unlike other car companies that have introduced more APPs such as “iQiyi”, BMW has chosen “Watermelon Video”, with each video limited to only 90 seconds.
We will need to wait for users’ feedback data to determine which approach has a higher usage rate.
2. Indoor map of parking lots.
Based on high-quality sensors and high-precision data on the vehicle, the car machine can display the layout of various floors in the parking lot it is located in, making it easier for car owners to park and find their car.
Undoubtedly, if this feature is well executed, it will greatly improve the user experience. In addition, this is a usage scenario that is quite unique to China.
3. Digital car key.
This was already announced at Apple’s press conference earlier this year. iOS devices can unlock and start vehicles through NFC, and the phone can completely replace the physical car key.
In addition, at the cloud press conference, BMW announced that it has signed a contract with Tencent Digital to plan to introduce Tencent’s small scenes and WeChat in-car version into BMW cars.
It’s worth mentioning that except for the digital car key, all the above functions are the first launch in the Chinese market. Jolyon Gustin, President and CEO of BMW Group Greater China, revealed that China has the largest research and development network outside of Germany, and China will lead the future development of travel.
Every car manufacturer is working on the introduction of apps such as QQ Music and WeChat into the car system. There are more or less differences in the solutions. Looking forward to the user experience after BMW, as a traditional giant, introduces these apps to the car system.
In addition, as the functions of the car system become more and more powerful, the development of automatic driving assistance is also complementary.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.