BMW Group has showcased its digital BMW ecosystem and what will be available in the future cars at the #NEXTGen event. The BMW Group and NOW services, along with mobility services and products, will be combined together under the name myBMW and the brand will reveal further details on myBMW at the IAA Cars 2019 which is scheduled in September.
BMW Personal Assistant
The BMW intelligent personal assistant has been available in a large number of BMW vehicle models fitted with the BMW Operating System 7.0. The BMW assistant responds to the prompt “hey BMW” and the digital assistant helps the driver by learning their preferences. The BMW assistant is updated through Remote Software Upgrades and learns new skills all the time.
Amazon Alexa in BMW and MINI models.
Amazon Alexa functions are now available with BMW and Mini models and many customers who use Alexa at home can integrate the same in their BMW and can ask Alexa questions, get weather forecasts and catch up on sports events and news and a lot more. Alexa also allows the user to operate compatible smart-home devices, such as lamps, thermostats and automatic garage doors, from their car.
The BMW Digital Key turns smartphones into car keys.
The BMW Digital Key uses near field communications technology to convert the conventional car key into a smartphone and works with BMW 8 Series and other models in the range. The user can use their smartphone to lock and unlock the car by holding the phone near the door handle. Once inside, the user can also start the engine by placing the phone in the wireless charging tray. The digital can be shared with 5 other people and works with NFC capable Samsung devices with Android 8.0 operating system.
Digital charging services for electric cars.
For BMW plug-in hybrid cars this system can be used to easily find a charging station and customers can search for a specific charging station and the car can automatically reserve space once they are within a range of 20 minutes drive from the station. the system will also earn iMiles which can be exchanged for extra charging credit at all ChargeNow stations.