Apple catch up to 1999...

http://www.apple.com/ipod/bmw/

Ooo, that UI. The Tardis, which actually shipped its 10 unit run before the first mk1 left the building, had a better UI than *that*. Still, feel the quality of the advert!

Hugo
(only slightly irritable)

View and control up to five unique BMW playlists and virtually endless miles of music.

Wow!

That really sucks. One, you've gotta plug the iPod into a trailing cable. Then, two, it's just using it as a 5-disc CD changer. That's a real piece of crap. I expect more from both BMW and Apple.

Oh, also:

Not available on vehicles with navigation system, CD changer, DSP cassette player or satellite radio.

On the other hand, it's nice to see BMW recognize that MP3 support is an important feature to sell cars, and Apple recognize that car integration is an important feature to sell iPods. Follow both of these points to their logical conclusion, and you could imagine cars shipping in a few years that are "iPod ready" and actually do something intelligent with the UI. At that point, you could even imagine third-party manufacturers being forced to support whatever protocols Apple speaks in order to be compatible with the iPod connectors.

Howabout this offering from Smart. That cradle is pretty sweet.

Yeah that's pretty rotten. There is much excitement about it on the mini2.com fourms.

It's tempting because I don't want to remove the factory head unit and there isn't a good place to mount the empeg. The temptation ends when I realize even if the UI was good I would the same problem I had before I got the empeg never having the song I want to hear with me.

Hmm. The iPod ready BMW might have iPod controls on the steering wheel. A wheel on a wheel <choke>.

Pretty half assed attempt at integration

Actually, if they follow Apple's human factor's design, you'd click a button in the center of your steering wheel, and it would change modes from steering your car to operating the iPod.

More likely, they'd do some kind of unusable iDrive-meets-iPod integration. You think you're asking for the next track and you end up turning on your seat warmers or something.

Hmm, maybe better is in the works...

Check here

For now though, what exists is pretty poor. Max of 495 tracks by what I understand (5 playlists acting as CD 1-5 x 99 tracks per playlist)

That one looks rather more interesting, though I'm interested in how they get the head unit to show video input whilst the car is moving... I suspect they're having to defeat the overrides for that sort of thing.

BMW would never, ever stand for jumping VU meters on an in-dash screen (I mean, you don't even get elapsed time in a track - even on the in-dash CD or MD units), so I think we can safely say that this is being done without BMWs direct involvement

Hugo

Erm me thinks that be a photoshop job don't see BMW going down that route but that said the Idrive is based on windows CE

Erm me thinks that be a photoshop job

Hmm, that's what I thought.

Not available on vehicles with navigation system, CD changer, DSP cassette player or satellite radio.

What percentage of U.S.-spec Bimmers do you think that disqualifies? 60%? 75%?! Sheesh.