At CES 2015, BMW has announced it will be updating its navigation systems in its Connected Drive suite via the cloud.
The system updates itself at regular intervals several times a year, whenever a new map version becomes available. BMW says that all navigation functions continue to be fully available while the update is in progress. There is no need to either register or log in to a portal for the automatic update.
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The move may come as a surprise to some as BMW has always said that updates would be made via USB in the dealership, to maintain full security control.
However, Silke Bridl, head of Connected Drive, told just-auto that the time is right to allow software-over-the-air (SOTA) updates. “It is not most convenient to have the customer go to the dealership to plug in the USB key. Many customers would just leave it and then get angry when the system doesn’t work well. The system is secure because it only talks to the BMW back end. There are no third parties or customer data on the server [sic], so it is very secure. Also, the increase in network bandwidth has helped because security protocols can work much faster, so there is no lag for the customer.”
To keep the system agile, the navigation is the only application of the native (embedded) software that will update. Unlike Audi, which already offers this system, the updates will be incremental. Only changes to the existing mapping database will be downloaded, which means less data load. The updates will download behind the scenes, so the system can still be used by the driver.
Other announcements made at CES are available in our Connected Vehicle Technologies report in just-auto’s intelligence and analysis tool, QUBE.
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