BMW building smarter cars with its ConnectedDrive applications

Another new feature enables the car owner to view online news, weather and stock information on the central screen. For the sake of safety, the function is restricted when the car starts driving. However the new voice control system can continue to read the news and weather report for the driver.

Traffic information is updated over the same 3G data channel for major Chinese cities and displayed on the map in simple color graphics indicating congestion level, with routes recalculated to minimize travel times if a delay exceeds 5 minutes.

Last year, the company established the BMW ConnectedDrive Lab in Shanghai, the company's third facility of its kind, joining those in Munich and California. The lab is designed to learn more about customer behavior in China and to develop more new connectivity functions that best fit the local market. Expert Chinese engineers develop new applications to meet the demands of customers whose lifestyles are closely linked to smartphones.

ConnectedDrive already offers several apps for Chinese smartphone users to access Web services in their BMW, including social networking sites Kaixin and Sina Weibo within the BMW Connected application as well as popular music services, Baidu Music and Douban FM.

One function allows the owner's iPhone to receive information about the car's parking location and the final destination as set in its navigation system, which is transferred to Baidu Maps. The smartphone then shows the route from the parking lot to the final destination and helps the owner find the way back to the car.

Another newly released extension from the carmaker is called ECO PRO Analyser, which evaluates the driver's driving style in acceleration, braking and shifting to help cultivate fuel-efficient driving habits.

One of the newest iPhone applications developed by BMW can request the car to sound the horn, flash the lights or lock the doors from any location within the Chinese mainland.

Finding your car in a big, crowded parking lot or ensuring it is locked is no longer a concern. On hot summer days, the app can start the fan in the car to cool the temperature before the driver even gets inside.

In the near future, this application, called My BMW Remote, will also be available for Android smartphones in China, according to BMW.