Mini Cooper Connected app adjusts music based on driving style, stops when airbags deploy

We're always looking for excuses to get behind the wheel, so naturally the new Dynamic Music function in the Mini Connected app made us yearn for a chance to hit the road. Version 2.0 brings this headline feature to the iPhone, which includes exclusively-composed music that adjusts based on things like a compatible Mini Cooper's "longitudinal and lateral acceleration." In other words, the faster and crazier you drive, the more exciting the music becomes. So instead of having mom in the passenger seat begging you to slow down, there's music that encourages you to do the opposite. The press release even references a "hallmark Mini go-kart feeling," so you might want to make sure everyone's buckled up before you plug in. Should anyone fail to do so, a new feature called Mission Control will let you know, also nagging about poor driving conditions. How's that for a mixed signal?

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Driving fun, the enjoyment of music and social networks: MINI Connected with new functions. MINI opens the door to the next level of intelligent networking – Latest MINI Connected App with new entertainment features – Integration of the Apple iPhone enables use of innovative services using the on-board control system and a smartphone.

27.04.2011 Press Release Munich. MINI Connected gives drivers an even more intense experience of limitless driving fun, and allows that experience to be tailored to personal preferences and even shared with other users. Now the intelligent link-up of the driver, the MINI and the outside world has reached a new stage. The extended MINI Connected App gives Apple iPhone users access to innovative functions designed to enhance driving fun, entertainment and social networking. MINI therefore takes the lead once again in the intelligent link-up of the car with the outside world. In the future, the MINI Connected App will allow users to send posts composed on their Apple iPhone while on the move via online social networks Facebook and Twitter. With the Dynamic Music function, meanwhile, every journey in the MINI can be enjoyed to the soundtrack of specially arranged songs, whose rhythm and sound volume adjust to the driving style at any one time. Added to which, the new MINI Connected App now gives the globally unique in-car infotainment function Mission Control two different angles.

To use the MINI Connected App, owners need to specify their MINI with the MINI Visual Boost radio or MINI navigation system, plus the MINI Connected option. Functions integrated into the car via an Apple iPhone can be operated using the joystick, the steering wheel buttons or the on-board monitor. Innovative technology designed to aid the integration of the Apple iPhone into the car gives owners the option to access a wide range of updates and extended services. And the latest version of the MINI Connected App – available from the Apple App Store – allows the latest functions to be transferred into the car. All of which means that MINI Connected customers have a clear road ahead of them when it comes to accessing in-car infotainment innovations both now and into the future.

Always in contact thanks to extended use of Facebook and Twitter.

Among the functions unique in the MINI segment are access to the GoogleTM local search and GoogleTM Send to Car services and reception of user-definable RSS news feeds, the content of which is displayed on the on-board monitor and can be read out using the optional voice output function. Added to which MINI enables the use of web-based social networks in the car. MINI Connected customers can receive Facebook and Twitter posts inside the car, display them on the on-board monitor and have them read out using the optional MINI Connected voice output function. In the same way, preformatted text messages can be sent out directly from the car using either service.

The new MINI Connected App now allows posts composed on an iPhone to be accessed inside the car. A list of the posts already stored in the iPhone can be shown on the on-board monitor during a journey. Updated vehicle data, information on the driver's destination and the outside temperature can be added to posts and then posted on the desired network at the touch of a button.

More driving fun with Dynamic Music.

The Dynamic Music function likewise featured in the new MINI Connected App contains a selection of exclusively composed music which can be played back through the audio system of the MINI. These pieces of music adapt their rhythm and dynamic flow according to the driving style. The driver can choose from a wide variety of tracks and genres using the on-board monitor and joystick. The desired sound is then modulated according to factors including the car's longitudinal and lateral acceleration. All of which allows MINI Connected customers to create a MINI-specific soundtrack for the hallmark MINI go-kart feeling according to their mood and driving style.

The MINI Connected App also offers customers variety unmatched in this segment when it comes to tailoring their music selection in other ways. The web radio function allows users to pick up their preferred stations, regardless of their location, while on the move in the MINI. The station database available through the application contains thousands of radio stations whose programmes can be accessed online.

Typically MINI and unique: Mission Control with new functions.

As an alternative to the web radio function, MINI Connected customers can also use an Apple iPhone to activate the Mission Control function. Another feature of the new MINI Connected App, this service offers a further innovative in-car entertainment option to make your driving fun even more varied, in keeping with the unmistakable character of the brand. Mission Control analyses numerous signals relating to the vehicle, the driving situation and the vehicle's surroundings to provide the driver with relevant information and advice, all generated in dialogue form. These dialogues are based, among other things, on input regarding safety and comfort settings – ranging from a request that the driver and passengers buckle up their seat belts to instructions on the use of the air conditioning system – and also incorporate up-to-date information on driving conditions and the current status of the vehicle, such as the outside temperature and the amount of fuel in the tank.

The system's extensive pool of comments ensures variety in the interaction between the MINI and its driver, even when situations on the road recur on a daily basis. And now the new MINI Connected App gives the Mission Control function's repertoire two different angles. The range of advice can be varied by the driver as desired. Among the features supported by the Mission Control function are the use of the MINIMALISM Analyser included in MINI Connected. Once again usable in conjunction with an iPhone, this function generates visible and – thanks to Mission Control – audible alerts to give drivers tips on how to make their individual driving style even more efficient.

The on-board technology assesses a variety of vehicle data during a journey, allowing tips to be passed on to drivers while they are at the wheel to help them reduce fuel consumption. The MINIMALISM Analyser also gives MINI drivers the option of swapping information with fellow owners to draw up an efficiency ranking list. The tips generated by Mission Control to promote an extremely efficiency-focused driving style take an entertaining route to helping drivers improve their position on the MINIMALISM Ranking list.