The make-your-own-radio service that is Pandora is always improving, as are other online music services, but this year, Pandora is talking to anyone who drives a recent BMW.
If you own a BMW purchased from March or April 2014, the news is good, as the car’s “Connected Drive Services” system will now talk to the Pandora app on the iPhone, bringing Pandora’s thumbs up, thumbs down, and skip and play buttons to a steering wheel, as well as the on-board monitor.
To make this work right now, you’ll need an iPhone, the BMW Connected App, and an update to the Pandora iPhone app helping the connection with a transmission of information to the controls of the car.
“Pandora’s aim is to be integrated into more than two thirds of all new Australian vehicles by the end of 2015 and our partnership with BMW is the latest exciting addition to our growing automotive portfolio,” said Rick Gleave, Director of Business Development at Pandora in the Australia and New Zealand region.
“This integration ensures drivers can enjoy the music they love comfortably, simply, and safely with an intuitive system which ensures driver distraction is kept to a minimum.”
For now, it’s a concept that will be limited to owners of the Apple iPhone, though BMW does make its Connected App for Android, too, and a representative for Pandora told GadgetGuy this week that an update to its Android app “is in the pipeline”.
Other car companies will also join BMW soon, with Ford, Holden, Mazda, and Nissan also likely to launch their own Pandora-connected systems later in the year.
“With BMW now on our roster of automotive partners, we are succeeding in our mission to capture more listeners in the car compared to any other music streaming service across Australia and New Zealand,” said Gleave.
