Mini showed off four new apps for their Mini Connected infotainment platform at the 2013 New York International Auto Show. Audible (digital spoken-word content), Glympse (location sharing), Rhapsody (on-demand music service) and TuneIn (Internet radio), add another suite of apps that are not only unique from each other, but also offer drivers expanded capabilities to safely access smartphone apps while driving. "We regularly identify apps that our owners rely on as part of their everyday life, and adapt them for an in-vehicle experience they'll find safe, useful and engaging," said Phil Johnston, Product Manager for the BMW Group Apps Platform from the BMW Group Technology Office. "Audible, Glympse, Rhapsody and TuneIn were natural additions to the family of MINI Connected Ready Apps."
Of the new apps, we found Audible and Glympse to be the most unique to current carmaker infotainment platforms. Check out a hands-on demonstration in the video below:
Audible features the world's largest "book on tape" collection with over 135,000 audio programs. Audible is also the exclusive provider for audiobooks to Apple's iTunes store. With Mini Connected, the audiobook begins where you left off and the user can adjust playback speed, as well as skip to other chapters. We think Audible is a perfect app for road trips and commuting.
Glympse is a way to share your location with someone you are about to meet up with. Perfect for a large city when you are trying to coordinate a meeting. By setting a specific period of time that someone can view your location, they can see your estimated time of arrival while en route, without the distraction of sending out text messages while driving.
The BMW tech office in Silicon Valley works with app developers to add a bit of lightweight code to allow for communicating to the Mini Connected platform. In order to use each individual app, the user must first launch the app on the iPhone then plug it into Mini Connected via USB.
We asked if there would ever be a way to launch the apps from the infotainment controller instead of taking eyes off the road to access the phone, but we were told they have nothing to announce.
Of the new apps, we found Audible and Glympse to be the most unique to current carmaker infotainment platforms. Check out a hands-on demonstration in the video below:
Audible features the world's largest "book on tape" collection with over 135,000 audio programs. Audible is also the exclusive provider for audiobooks to Apple's iTunes store. With Mini Connected, the audiobook begins where you left off and the user can adjust playback speed, as well as skip to other chapters. We think Audible is a perfect app for road trips and commuting.
Glympse is a way to share your location with someone you are about to meet up with. Perfect for a large city when you are trying to coordinate a meeting. By setting a specific period of time that someone can view your location, they can see your estimated time of arrival while en route, without the distraction of sending out text messages while driving.
The BMW tech office in Silicon Valley works with app developers to add a bit of lightweight code to allow for communicating to the Mini Connected platform. In order to use each individual app, the user must first launch the app on the iPhone then plug it into Mini Connected via USB.
We asked if there would ever be a way to launch the apps from the infotainment controller instead of taking eyes off the road to access the phone, but we were told they have nothing to announce.
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