From a banal means of transportation, a car has long turned into something incomparably larger: for some it is an obvious status symbol, for others it is a full-fledged office, some cannot even imagine life without it, because it has mobility multiplied by modern technological developments, means comfort squared. Technology around the past 20 years has been improving at an incredible speed: right from bed in the morning, by pressing one button on your phone or tablet, you can make coffee, from the office - start the washing machine or turn on the heating, and without using a keyboard, pacing around the office or apartment - write work letters and send SMS.
It is not surprising that all the principles incorporated in the concept of a "smart home", as well as modern technologies to help a person to control equipment, have appeared in premium cars. Progress does not stand still - and amid testing of self-driving cars, new models simply need to be tuned for the multitasking life of a businessman.
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One of the pioneers in this area is the German carmaker BMW, whose smart services within BMW ConnectedDrive deserve a separate story. Some of them are designed to make life easier for a person whose working day is inextricably linked with a huge stream of letters, which is combined with no less travel around the city. You can draw up a route for the coming day, or part of it, either from a computer, without leaving the same apartment or office, or directly in the car. And then everything is even easier. With BMW ConnectedDrive, your car can be turned into a true office assistant, receiving and responding to emails and reading the latest news while driving.
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BMW ConnectedDrive will come in handy on weekends too. Using an online Google search, you can find the best restaurants in town with BMW recommendations online, or send previously found ones on any website to the car's navigation system via the BMW ConnectedDrive portal using the “My Info” service.
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If you suddenly need to find some complex information, you should use a personal assistant. Whether you're looking for a nearby ATM, a 24-hour pharmacy or a hotel room, the BMW ConnectedDrive Call Center is on hand to help you, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Want to know more about the route and destination? Your BMW knows the most scenic spots, literally everything about the weather and can tell you about the sights on the way. Mountain serpentines or coastal walks - whichever route is needed, BMW can now find it with Wiki Local. The car's navigation system turns into a personal tourist guide, displaying the most interesting stopping points and all the necessary related information.
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Regardless of the time of day and day of the week, the service will be extremely useful, which provides information about the traffic situation online and clearly displays all the collected data on the map of the navigation system. In addition, the system calculates how much traffic jams will delay you on the way, and makes recommendations for a detour. Thus, the system always provides accurate information about the situation on the planned route and suggests alternative routes so that you can react to traffic jams in a timely manner and try to avoid them.
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The service works like this: traffic information is collected from many sources, in particular, from networks of cellular operators, GPS data from cars, from applications in smartphones, traffic police data, and so on. The data is analyzed so thoroughly that in real time, you can learn about traffic jams almost instantly, both on highways, motorways and country roads, and on city streets.
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With the car remote control function and the free My BMW Remote app (available in the AppStore and Google Play), you can remotely control various vehicle functions, such as unlocking and locking doors. When in winter there is no desire to clean the frost from the windows, but you want to sit in a warm interior, then using the My BMW Remote app, like a smart home system, you can preset the temperature in your BMW. In the application menu, you can start an autonomous heating system or turn on ventilation.
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BMW ConnectedDrive Services are designed not only to make your life easier, to significantly save time on constantly emerging office and everyday needs, but also to make any trip as safe as possible. At least, there is no need to be distracted by the phone screen, without which the life of a modern person is unthinkable.>