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| Your car: cellphone, e-mail, voice mail, Web access |
May 8, 2006 |
By Michael Bettencourt
Canada’s Research in Motion may have the largest cult following in the personal communication device arena with its BlackBerry handhelds, but in the summer of 2005, RIM’s supremacy was successfully challenged by prime competitor Palm in a new high-tech, yet particularly posh, arena: the dashboards of German luxury cars.
In August 2005, Palm and Audi announced the integration of the popular Treo 650 smartphone into many new Audi vehicles. The Treo now wirelessly syncs to all 2006 Audi A6 and A8 models (and the smaller A3 and A4 models, when equipped with Bluetooth technology). Bluetooth-enabled cellphones have been able to do this for a few years now, but this was the first time a hands-free option was available in a device that offered the extended capabilities of a cellphone/PDA combo device, and it became a trump card for Palm over its Waterloo, Ontario-based rival.
At the same time, however, RIM was working with one of Audi’s prime automotive rivals, German luxury car powerhouse BMW, on similar functionality for its Bluetooth-equipped PDAs. In mid-December, BMW Group Canada announced it was the first company in the world to offer users of the new BlackBerry 8700r model full address book integration. This meant drivers could make or receive calls without taking their hands off the steering wheel. BMW Group Canada announced it was “the first automaker to provide BlackBerry users the additional address book pairing capability, and Canadian BMW owners became the first in the world to benefit from this functionality.”
Thus the battle for the loyalty of affluent, personal communication device users hit the streets, literally, with Canada at the forefront of this international, yet currently Bavarian, battleground.
So I gladly took the opportunity to become the first journalist in Canada to take the BlackBerry 8700r for an extended (month-long) test drive that included a week-long stint behind the wheel of a 2006 BMW 550i, and compared it to the capabilities of the Palm Treo 650 smartphone in a 2006 Audi A6 Avant.
BMW and BlackBerry
I took possession of the sleek new 8700r (available on the Rogers network) just prior to going to Detroit for a business trip, and for both e-mail and cellphone functions it worked flawlessly on three trips to the U.S. BlackBerry reps were quick to point out the advantages of this new flagship model, which hit the market in late 2005, including a screen that self-adjusted its brightness depending on lighting conditions, 64MB worth of memory, dedicated send and end buttons, and a brilliant colour screen that provides a much more modern desktop-like interface.
All 2006 model year BMWs equipped with BMW Assist and Bluetooth (3, 5, 6, 7 Series, Z4, X5) offer the address book function, and it worked seamlessly on my plum-coloured 550i tester. To get the magic started, the device and the car have to establish a one-time connection, which takes a few seconds.
When you receive a phone call from someone in your address book, the name comes up on the centre-console mounted screen, making it easier to decide if you want to take the call or not. If you do, there’s no undignified digging under coats or seatbelts to answer: just hit the talk button on the steering wheel, or press the iDrive mouse-like controller between the seats. Or if you’re looking to call someone, just leave the BlackBerry where it is in its holster or your briefcase, and bring up your address book through the iDrive controller or the buttons on the steering wheel.
BMW Group Canada took a major role in developing the software needed for this, working with RIM for more than a year to develop the address book capability.
What it can’t do is display your e-mails on the car’s large centre screen — luckily or unfortunately, depending on your point of view — even when stopped at a light or in park. Seeing these messages displayed while on the move would undoubtedly be deemed too dangerous, even though many BlackBerry users already fumble around for the device when it starts buzzing, endangering themselves and others. A great solution would be if the car could automatically connect with the e-mails sent to the device and read them back to you through your car’s speakers. We checked with RIM to see if this would be possible, and the company responded with deafening silence. That function appears to be a long way off.
Audi and Palm
Palm had the major advantage of hitting the market first with its automobile-friendly integration. Audi Canada director of communications Doug Clark took me through his very full Treo 650 while behind the wheel of a (parked) 2006 Audi A6 Avant, to give me a real-world view of its capabilities. It’s one thing to get a spanking new device and play with it for a week or two, but it’s always enlightening to get a long-time user’s perspective. He had also been involved in launching the technology with Audi of America last year, and has used his own Treo 650 in the U.S. and now in Canada.
Like the 8700r, the Treo 650 allows drivers to make and answer calls, access their list of favourite numbers (equivalent to the address book on the BlackBerry), speed dial, and see who is calling on a large multi-function display on the dashboard, all without touching the actual phone. The Treo has a dedicated resting point in the Audi A6, with an available compartment in between the front seats that holds the 650 securely in place while recharging it, plus it hooks up the device’s antenna to the more powerful shark fin-like antenna mounted on the roof.
Clark said the Audi and Treo marriage is a happy one because both brands attract tech-savvy customers who like to be ahead of the curve. “Cellphone calls can be interruptive,” said Clark, noting the safety benefits of always keeping the driver’s hands on the steering wheel. The device can also be used through Audi’s Multi-Media Interface (MMI) controller, which is similar in concept to iDrive, but with more direct push buttons to functions that make it slightly easier to use. “The benefit of being able to talk on the phone without touching the phone is a major plus.”
For Clark, one of the most impressive features offered is the ability for the Treo and car to seamlessly bridge a phone call from one platform to the other. “If you’re walking and talking on the phone, you get into the car, keep on talking — hands-free — while you drive home. Then, just keep talking into the phone as you get out of the car,” he said. “It’s technology adapting to people, not people adapting to technology.”
This signal portability is also available on the BMW pairing.
Not quite perfect
Like any advanced technology, however, there are still glitches for early adopters to expect. Neither the 8700r nor my own BlackBerry 7100g could “find” two Bluetooth-enabled Audi A6 models, leaving me without address book or hands-free calling functions. RIM’s Technical Knowledge Web site states this functionality should be available on that car, despite BMW’s industry-exclusive address book claim.
Outside of the automotive realm, the Treo doesn’t offer the slick push technology of BlackBerry devices that gets e-mails to you almost instantaneously, but the Treo 650 can be set up to retrieve messages up to every five minutes. So the experience is similar. And while Web sites seemed reasonably quick to load with the 8700r, it was still difficult to view anything on the few sites that I tried to access with it. Although both the 8700r and Treo 650 are good at combining cellphones and e-mail/organizer devices, BlackBerrys or Treos are not going to replace a laptop for most people.
For Canadian drivers, BMW and Audi are leading the way. More car companies will follow, but for now the most mobile professionals will be driving one of the two brands that can link to their personal digital assistants.
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