Does e-mail belong next to the steering wheel?
BMW says it will be the first automobile manufacturer in the world to have voice-read e-mail messages inside its vehicles.
The latest electronic feature will be introduced starting this fall in Europe and North America on all BMW models with the navigation system.
Owners of a BlackBerry smart phone will be able to access the phone’s e-mail function via the iDrive operating system. A new Bluetooth interface will integrate the BlackBerry into the vehicle. It allows e-mails to be received and displayed on the “Control Display,” and even read aloud by means of an optional voice output feature.
It is just the latest example of the ongoing integration of entertainment, communication and online functions in vehicles as the number of deaths and injuries from DD – distracted driving – increases. In the U.S. alone almost 6,000 people are killed and more than 500,000 injured annually from DD. (See Smart Phones Add to Distracted Driving Epidemic)
The new BMW e-mail access feature ties in directly with the BMW ConnectedDrive office functions introduced at the beginning of this year.These allow not just call and contact lists, but also calendar entries, text messages, tasks and memos to be transferred from compatible smart phones to the vehicle via Bluetooth interface.
The entries can be selected using the Controller of the iDrive operating system and shown on the Control Display. Even a picture file with a contact address on a mobile phone can be shown on the vehicle monitor.
In addition, BMW ConnectedDrive also allows the music player functions of smart phones to be operated using the iDrive system. The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G is the first Smart phone from the BlackBerry that supports this function.
BMW claims the iDrive operating system provides “simple, safe and intuitive control of all functions, while causing minimum distraction from the road.”
For the first time, incoming and saved e-mails from the Bluetooth-integrated smart phone can now be retrieved and shown in just a few standardized operating stages, enhanced with the optional voice output function. At a single press of a button, the text of the e-mail is then read aloud.