Prius MFD vs BMW's I-Drive

Last week I saw a preview (I guess it was a preview) of the newest BMW iDrive system from Siemens at the JavaOne conference. I just thought I'd post and share since I find this kind of stuff fascinating.

I should point out right away that they have not fixed that goofy spin and push knob thing that controls the system. It's the only way to control the system and it's pretty awful from everything I've seen and read. I'm not sure why they don't use a touchscreen, it seems pretty inexcusable on a car in BMWs class.

On the plus side, the screen is fantastic. It's a little shorter than the Prius screen, but longer. Much, much crisper than the Prius's display. I'm not sure how many colors the Prius can display at once, but the iDrive seems to be a true color display, while I don't think the Prius's screen is. It also lets you split the screen in 2 (think radio on one half, map on the other half). You can pick what goes in which half. It's nice, but not necessarily a killer feature..

What is killer is the fact that it can supposedly handle bluetooth the right way. I'm not sure how they do it, but my guess is they support the vCard protocol so when you transfer your address book, your entries transfer over intact. So I'm guessing you'll get all the phone numbers and addresses. It'd be nice to just be able to go to your address book, find a friend, and get route guidance to their house. I didn't get a chance to actually muck about with the system on the showfloor, so if anyone else knows, chime in.

 

Well, if you're in an odd neighborhood... it's much easier to pull up Bob's address and ask for guidance than sit there and punch it in. Just a small point I guess.