BMW supports iPod Out, fills your 2011 auto with 2001's finest user interface
By Tim Stevens 
posted July 8th 2010 4:38PM
posted July 8th 2010 4:38PM
BMW Group announces support for new iPod Out feature for iPhone and iPod touch. Next generation of vehicle integration for iPhone and iPod touch enables use of the latest iPod music features in BMW and MINI vehicles.
07.07.2010Press Release
Munich. BMW Group today announces its support for the new iPod Out feature, in iOS 4, the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system. The launch of a newly developed BMW Group interface technology will provide BMW and MINI drivers with an easy-to-operate, intuitive way of using their iPhone and iPod touch in future BMW Group vehicles.
iPod Out enables BMW and MINI infotainment systems to display and control the music playback feature in iPhone and iPod touch in the vehicle's main display. The on-board monitor in BMW and MINI provides users with the simplicity and familiarity they have come to trust in their iPhone and iPod touch and the intuitive and integrated iPod navigation menu can be safely operated through the vehicle's interface controls. Additionally, state-of-the-art iPod features such as custom playlists and Genius, which instantly creates a playlist of songs that go well together from a user's own library, is immediately made available to BMW and MINI drivers through the vehicle's main display. iPod Out requires iOS 4 with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPod touch (second and third generation).
The new interface technology developed for this purpose by the BMW Group enables continued availability of iPod Out features of iPhone and iPod touch in vehicles and represents a new milestone in consumer electronic device vehicle integration. Future vehicles equipped with this technology will be able to adapt more quickly to the software lifecycles of iPod touch and iPhone. The new interface technology was developed by an international cooperation of the BMW Research and Development Centre in Munich, Germany and the BMW Group Technology Office Palo Alto in Silicon Valley, California.
Once again the BMW Group takes a leading role in the Infotainment integration of iPhone and iPod touch. In 2004, BMW was the first automobile manufacturer in the world to integrate iPod in the audio system. In the following year a corresponding solution was presented for MINI. Right on time for the market launch of iPhone in 2007, the BMW Group once again offered an exclusive technological solution for integrating iPhone in the infotainment system of its vehicles.
The new BMW Group iPod Out support mirrors the innovation strategy of BMW ConnectedDrive for the BMW brand and will be part of the new offer called MINI Connected for the MINI brand. Both brands aim at connecting driver and passengers to their personal infotainment world in an intuitive and non-distracting way while on board. The optimized use of consumer mobile devices in an on-board environment play a central role in this connection.
why do BMW dashboards still look like they belong in the 1980s?
@Xtole
hahahahahaha...horrible! one of the reasons why ive never found bmw's that great...too much money for something like that looks so janky.
stick to beer germany...no user interface to screw up
@Xtole
BMW needs to take a lesson from the Japanese on how to create interfaces for the onboard electronics. The nav system controls/layout are nightmarish; the vehicles themselves are fantastic.
@Xtole
Save a couple grand and get an Audi.
@doug nah... german beer is too boring too.
@James Why, so you can deal with those wonderful Volkswagen engines? I hope you love oil sludge.
@Xtole I'm actually kind of suprised about that, considering their willingness to be so progressive with the exterior a la Chris Bangle. I'd imagine some of it has to do with their conservative consumer base. They're not terribly into wild designs.
@HideyoshiJP
Oil Sludge? Just stick to the manual and put in what it calls for (VW 502.00 0W-40 Synthetic) and it should be fine. However, If you just put in this weeks wal-mart special, then you deserve the sludge. BTW, I wouldn't own anything other than a German vehicle, the design, the fit and finish, the performance, safety, its just better than anything the big 3 can outsource to canada or mexico.
@Xtole Because BMW's focus isn't on the interface, reliability, or comfort. It's on the driving experience. I use to drive a bimmer, it's an interface nightmare, reliability equivalent to cheapest asian made consumer electronics, but whenever it managed to be in working condition the driving experience was a pleasure. The car just flows and feels like a part of you.
@Xtole
my philosophy; don't drastically change a design that works and has worked great for years..
BMW quality is more than simply cosmetic, if you can't see it then great, don't buy one.. I've owned many throughout my entire life and it's hard to find things that need to be changed. the idrive/ipod interface is easy to use already, though I prefer the simplicity of not having a screen in my car at all..
About the article though.. any true audio fanatic like myself will still use cd's or the auxiliary input under the armrest if the ipod is needed.
Also, If it wasn't for German cars.. all of our domestics and japanese cars would look like boxes going down the road.. so you should thank them
@James
Save money? An audi cost less because it's an inferior machine.. The only Audi I would ever consider spending money on is an R8 spyder.. for everything else, I'll stick with BMW.. Thanks
Sent From My ThinkPad
@ruby Audi inferior? since when? maybe back in the '90s, but have you seen the new audis, they are just as sexy as the BMWs, I like them equally, Mercedes a little less, but still better than a Lincoln, or even a Cadillac.
@Xtole
Because BMW is the best.
It's not an overpriced VW, it's not a pretty-princess car that devalues faster than the U.S. Dollar and they focus on what matters: Driving.
:3
@Xtole
Have you seen the Z4's dashboard? It looks fabulous.
http://0.tqn.com/d/cars/1/0/q/_/1/10_bmwz4_int.jpg
@HighestRanked2
Drive a BMW and no other car. If you want to Numb the road, drive a Mercedes, if you want to feel the road with unmatched control and predictability, drive a BMW.
It feels good to do turns that other cars have to slow down for :P *cough cough* that Mustang GT who was trying to race me, but I zoomed by him with ease around a bend.
@HighestRanked2
Yes they are "that good", they all are, (did you see my comment on the other brands too?), The only reason Saturn cars were so good looking (some of them at least), is because at the end they were just re badged Opels (with American guts unfortunately). When a kid rode into my GLI last year I got to try out a Chevy Cobalt, and a Ford Fusion, two cars at a similar class as my GLI, and they were both crap. The quality of the interiors reminded me of KIRF, and the suspension was horrid (going 80 on the toll road that goes from Orlando to the Kennedy Space Center, really showed how bad they were). Now, i dont believe that all American cars are junk, but on most sedans and cross overs, the German, Japanese, and Korean vehicles are much better (not too much on the Korean, but still better than American). The only thing we do know how to build though is Pickups and SUVs, but the others are catching up. (See the VW Touraeg, Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne, among others)
@Jono
A Mustang GT? Your BMW corners faster than a $22k car that has notoriously bad cornering ability. /golfclap
@VisitorQ
Yes considering I have an entry model that's old and has an underpowered and non-hypertorquey i6, yes it's quite a fun feat.
@Jono
I love german cars, especially bmw (that's what I own) but I don't ever put down american muscle.. Give me a mustang gt and I'll go around the track faster than the average guy in his brand new M3. The mustang may not feel as good but it's surely capable of performing if you know how to drive.
@Xtole
I love Audi interiors for beauty (minus the fugly steering wheel), but in terms of usability, I love a clean teutonic BMW dash. I can't stand the video-gamey/pachinko parlor look of most Japanese cars which you're no doubt comparing it to.
Flashy blinkenlights are not necessarily conducive to driving.
@Xtole
This is turning into autoblog
@ruby
I appreciate your enthusiasm for both cars, but I spend much of my time on a track and there is no way in heaven or hell that a Mustang in the hands of the same competent driver will beat an M3 around a road track. I love 'em both, but let's quit the crazy talk :) .
@ruby
I'm not putting down American muscle, I love a thundering V8 as much as the next guy. I just can't afford the fuel, hence the i6 :D I'm just saying it feels good to whoop some cocky guy who thinks big engines are all that matters.
Ah yes, BMWs, the "ultimate driving machine"... For tools who don't know jack about cars. If you've ever had to fix a German car, you know what a fraud the vaunted "German engineering" is. In fact, it's much like Apple's "elegance": often cited by people who have never fully used the product, and easily debunked.
@Information Central
Well, consider it a feature, a car that needs to be taken apart and fixed constantly needs to be easier to fix. Therefore the Big 3 added this feature in to keep repair costs down, When you make a machine that is so perfect, why consider taking it apart ( plus the complexity keeps the noobs out )
What, no comments??? What's going on here?
@vqro Ah... just as I typed my comment. Feel free to downrank.
@vqro Done
@vqro My pleasure.
@vqro
too poor to afford a BMW.....sigh
@vqro
Give it a second. Somehow Android fans will figure out a way to make something iPhone users have that they don't into a negative against the iPhone...
@iperson
How about this... um, give me some time to come up with something, I was not even thinking about that, I think its just that drooling over that BMW distracted me a bit.
bmw and apple.. my favorite companies..
@andrewwg94 You mean the Empire isn't your favourite? *Force Choke*
@Lord Vader "favourite" I didn't know you were British
@andrewwg94
sorry, but what's "the empire"??
@Xtole Haven't you seen my documentary "Star Wars" slave?, It's custom for all those who work for the Empire to learn to have British accents
@Xtole
Actually, he could also be Australian, Canadian, or New Zealander(?).
@Eliasj Or someone who grew up in any of the 38593821 former British empire colonies, like yours truly.
@Eliasj
Or could be Indian?
You mean the fine user interface that Creative invented first, I trust.
@Leindurstit
And the Xerox GUI
Unfortunately this will require the steering wheel to be used as the click wheel.
@ShadowMaker SdR
haha.. actually, i've drived a newer 3 series and they have a circular button in the middle that would probably act as the click wheel..
@ShadowMaker SdR
And then you press the horn to select, which could be a problem when your slumped-over head is pressing it continuously.
Lets just hope it doesn't catch on fire- seriously.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/07/08/iphone-4-catches-fire/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheBoyGeniusReport+(Boy+Genius+Report)
@EggoEspada
I wonder if Engadget is going to report on that. My guess is no.
Engadget give-a-way? Please!
call me when they support iPod In
Fandroids posting in 3,2,1,