BMW Connected coming to Android smartphones. Teaming up with Samsung to premiere the Android version at the IFA 2016.

Munich/Berlin. In August 2016 BMW presented its all-encompassing digital services concept to a European audience, BMW Connected at the core. Available for the iPhone in the USA since March 2016, BMW Connected provides seamless integration of the consumer’s daily digital life with their vehicle – a personal mobility companion. Starting in October, customers will also be able to use BMW Connected on selected high-end smartphones running the latest version of Android. BMW is teaming up with Samsung to preview the technology at the Samsung Showcase event which took place on 31 August as part of the IFA 2016 – the world’s leading consumer electronics and electric household appliance fair – in Berlin.

BMW Connected for Android.  

The first version of BMW Connected, already introduced in the USA and available in 18 European markets since August 2016, focuses on end-to-end journey management seamlessly integrated with the vehicle. To this end, BMW Connected facilitates the daily planning of trips and appointments, and enable users to reach their destination stress-free and on time. BMW Connected for Android makes it easy to search for, store and recall destinations. Appointments with addresses are automatically imported from calendar entries. Users are then informed of their optimum departure time based on real-time traffic information. Frequently visited places and personal mobility patterns are automatically learned in order to provide notifications to the user if travel times are longer than usual. Destinations can easily be transferred from the phone to BMW’s navigation system to eliminate typing in the vehicle. Besides all this, the familiar BMW Remote Services are also available for BMW Connected Android version, allowing a variety of functions – such as the interior climate control, vehicle locking and unlocking, and operating the horn and headlight flasher – to be controlled remotely from a smartphone.

BMW Connected and the Samsung Gear S3.

In addition to support for popular Samsung smartphones, Samsung presented the inclusion of BMW Connected into the Tizen ecosystem as well as the direct integration of the technology into the latest Gear S3 smartwatch. With BMW Connected users can get alerted when it’s time to leave for their next trip, check their fuel level, unlock their BMW, and more – all directly from the Gear S3 watch face.

This link-up offers further evidence of how rolling BMW Connected out into other relevant digital ecosystems and touchpoints can constantly broaden and improve the customer experience.

BMW Connected for Android will be available for selected smartphone models in Germany and the USA in October 2016, and in other markets in due course.