BMW claims to have been the first carmaker to offer an in-dash navigation system all the way back in 1994 on its 7 Series. It was also arguably the first automaker to experience the backlash that comes with poor user interface design when it introduced the iDrive system in 2001. Nav systems today have trickled down to cars costing a fraction of the 7 Series these days, and iDrive has matured to become a competitive infotainment platform among the luxury set. This week, BMW is unveiling the latest generation of its infotainment platform that includes so much more than just navigation and a clever master knob to control to it all.
Called BMW ConnectedDrive, the new system is marked by two big improvements. The first are new graphics for the entire system that feature black backgrounds and atmospheric lighting effects, as well as a new view option for maps called “3D City Models” for select locations.
The second improvement is the introduction of iDrive Touch, which is a touchpad interface like those first used on some Audi models that’s embedded on the top of BMW’s familiar iDrive rotary knob controller. Measuring 45mm in diameter, the touchpad can be used not only for inputting characters, but also features a pinch-to-zoom function when viewing maps and will soon have the ability to control a cursor when BMW makes a browser function available. iDrive Touch will launch this month in China, where the input’s gesture control method works particularly well with that language’s thousands of characters, and then go on to appear in all other markets a year later.
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