PODCASTING INNOVATION: TED AND BMW TEAM UP TO SHARE THE POWER OF IDEAS WITH A GLOBAL AUDIENCE

New York, NY and Woodcliff Lake, NJ - June 27, 2006... Once a year, 1000 people
are invited to the TED Conference in Monterey, California, to exchange
something of incalculable value:  their ideas.  What happens there has never
been shared until now.  TED and BMW today announced they will team up to
provide a ground-breaking, free video and audio podcast series of the best
talks delivered at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference.
Starting today, the public can download the talks - which will feature Al Gore,
Bono, and more than 30 other distinguished speakers in a format specifically
edited for a wide range of media at www.ted.com/tedtalks or at
www.bmwusa.com/TED.

Independent Thinkers and Great Ideas Worth Spreading
"BMW is a natural partner for TED because of their commitment to innovation,
their nurturing of great ideas, and their history of supporting ground-breaking
uses of new media. We're delighted that they're supporting this project," said
Chris Anderson, Curator of the TED Conference. "At the heart of TED is a belief
that ideas can change the world. For years we've witnessed powerful, inspiring
talks there. They've had huge impact on those who've heard them. Now, thanks to
the take-off of online video and podcasting, we can share them widely for the
first time. This is incredibly exciting. Each of these unique voices has the
power to inspire, to change someone's views, or even someone's life."

"BMW's sponsorship of TEDTalks reflects the company's deep commitment to
nurturing great ideas and the independent thinkers behind them," said Jack
Pitney, Vice President of Marketing, BMW of North America. "TED and BMW are
both independent organizations, and we truly feel that independent thinkers and
breakthrough ideas are the most crucial elements in shaping our future."

"The main focus is to get these powerful ideas out into the world, these are
ideas worth spreading," adds Chris Anderson of TED.

Pitney noted that BMW has a reputation for being an innovator in the areas that
define the TED conference themes: Technology, Entertainment and Design. BMW as
a leader in sustainable technology is preparing the paradigm shift for a
regenerative hydrogen-powered world with its pioneering CleanEnergy program,
which helped spark the partnership with TED. When it comes to entertainment,
BMW also has a strong record in using podcasts and online videos like the
industry-defining internet BMW FILMS to spread ground-breaking ideas. Not
surprisingly, this is not the first time that BMW and TED have been affiliated
- in 2002, Chris Bangle, the visionary BMW Group Director of Design, was one of
the speakers at the conference.

Speakers Who Have the Power to Change the World
TEDTalks premieres on June 27th with six extraordinary speakers: Former US
Vice President Al Gore (giving the talk that followed his now-famous
presentation on climate change), Macarthur Award recipient Majora Carter,
motivational speaker Tony Robbins, New York Times technology columnist David
Pogue, education visionary Ken Robinson, and founder of the non-profit
Gapminder Hans Rosling.

Additional talks will be released weekly and will feature rock star Peter
Gabriel on his work with human-rights group Witness, evolutionary
anthropologist Helen Fisher exploring the future of love, X-Prize founder Peter
Diamandis making the case for space tourism, "Ashes and Snow" photographer
Gregory Colbert unveiling the idea of an Animal Copyright Foundation, Seattle
Library architect Joshua Prince-Ramus explaining how great architecture is
made, actress Julia Sweeney performing an excerpt from her play, "Letting Go of
God," 28-year-old blogging entrepreneur Mena Trott on the personal side of
blogging, and Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell on what we can all learn
from spaghetti sauce.

18 Minutes of Technology & Media Leadership - TED and the BMW Group
The talks are perfectly timed at 18 minutes, so speakers deliver pithy
presentations with astounding impact. The talks are being distributed across
multiple formats to reach the greatest audience possible (Flash Video,
QuickTime, MPEG-4 video, MP3 audio, VideoEgg, GoogleVideo, iTunes music store).
Anyone with a web browser can watch TEDTalks online at www.ted.com/tedtalks.
The audio and video podcasts can also be downloaded for playback on an iPod or
other MP3 player. Viewers can also subscribe for free to receive each new
TEDTalk, as it is released. In the spirit of a free exchange, these podcasts
are being released under a creative commons license, allowing them to be
redistributed freely for non-commercial use.

From July onwards, the ever-growing TED community can listen to the audio
version of the TEDTalks in every current BMW model, all of which are available
with iPod adapters.

Key Partnerships
Along with the BMW Group, TED has partnered with industry leaders to produce
and distribute these cutting-edge talks, including Adobe, Apple, Clickability,
Feedburner, Google, Podzinger, StreamGuys, Typepad, VideoEgg, and WNYC (New
York Public Radio).

High resolutions images are available for free editorial use at
www.newscastonline.com/media/
 
TED
TED is an invitation-only event where the world's leading thinkers and doers
gather for inspiration and insight. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment,
Design -- three broad subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future.
In fact, the event is broader still, showcasing ideas that matter in any
discipline. Attendees have called it "The ultimate brain spa" and "A four-day
journey into the future." The audience -- CEOs, financiers, inventors,
intellectuals -- is almost as extraordinary as the speakers, who have included
Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Quincy Jones, Frank Gehry, Herbie Hancock and Bono.

Each year, TED features 80 of the world's most fascinating people. TED
presenters run the world's most admired companies and design its best-loved
products; they invent world-changing devices, and write best-selling books.
They are trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses.
Collectively, they have won every major prize awarded for excellence, including
the Nobel, Pritzker, Pulitzer, Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Macarthur "Genius"
grant.

TED was first held in Monterey, CA in 1984, and featured the launch of the
Macintosh computer and the Sony compact disc. In 2001, Chris Anderson's Sapling
Foundation acquired TED from its founder Richard Saul Wurman.

BMW - A Company of Ideas
BMW has a unique corporate culture which puts a premium on constant innovation
and inspiration. This is reflected in projects like BMW CleanEnergy, BMW's
commitment to a sustainable future for mobility using renewable hydrogen fuel,
BMW Design, which sets trends in interior and exterior styling, and the
award-winning BMW FILMS. BMW believes there is nothing more rewarding than
helping great ideas live on.

BMW Group In America
BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975.
ROLLS-ROYCE Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW
Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial
service organizations for the BMW brand, the MINI brand, and the ROLLS-ROYCE
brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, an industrial design firm in California; a
technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout
the, country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW
Group's global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant
for all Z4 Roadster and X5 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales
organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 339 BMW passenger
car centers, 334 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 143 BMW motorcycle
retailers, 80 MINI passenger car dealers, and 30 ROLLS-ROYCE Motor Car
dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group's sales headquarters for North,
Central and South America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet
at
www.bmwgroupna.com, www.bmwusa.com, www.bmwmotorradusa,
www.miniusa.com, and www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com.

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Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and its products is available
to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at the following address:
www.press.bmwgroup.com.

# # #

Contact:

Andreas Klugescheid
Corporate Communications Manager, Western Operations BMW Group
805-271-7311 / andreas.klugescheid@bmwna.com