[Technic]

Originally Posted by mhaghighi

who makes the bmw live? I mean is it also a dealer upgrade option or is only after market?

Press release:

BMW Live: Infotainment Services via the Customer's Mobile Phone

One of the latest attractive new services from BMW ConnectedDrive is BMW Live. Using any internet-capable mobile phone, and subject to data charges, it allows a limited number of the existing BMW Online services to be accessed via Bluetooth. All the available Online functions are transmitted by Bluetooth to the in-dash display. They can be operated easily and intuitively using the iDrive Controller, with the customer's mobile phone serving as the modem. From launch, BMW Live will provide free news via RSS feeds, weather information and the functions Google Local Search, Google Panoramio and Google Street View. To activate their favourite news feeds, customers simply input the relevant domain. The portal then automatically searches for the associated RSS feeds on the website. Headlines can be read aloud via BMW's text-to-speech function. The weather data, which includes both the current weather conditions and a four-day forecast, is presented on the monitor in clear, easily readable colour images.

The Google functions offered by BMW Live - Google Local Search, Panoramio and Street View - work similarly to the functions available in the current BMW Online system. The start page offers location selection, search box, categories and history. Addresses found using Google Local Search can be imported directly into the vehicle's navigation system. It is also possible, using the iDrive Controller, to select and display destination images from Google Panoramio and Street View, both while stationary and when on the move. The new BMW Live service from BMW ConnectedDrive is at present only available in the new BMW 1 Series. Customers can configure this service to their own individual requirements. Further BMW Live applications will shortly be made available worldwide (except in the USA, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan).