It is only a matter of time until we are all connected to everything around us. After talking with over 100 manufacturers last year, there is no doubt mobility is going to ingrain itself into all parts of our personal and public lives. Companies are grappling with how to harness these emerging technologies to provide enhanced services for customers. The recently launched and announced BMW and Mini DriveNow car sharing scheme in Munich is a cool example. The Dell Streak 5 (5″ Android Tablet) integrated into the car and provides the brains of the car sharing project.
How does the BMW car sharing project work?
Rental of the car is gained via SixT. Once your driver’s licence and personal details have been verified, a RFID chip based card provides the mechanism to unlock the car. Your Personal Pin, entered into the Streak 5, activates the car systems and provides all the services required while you drive to your destination. Customers looking to use the car can — via a mobile app — locate cars within the city, and either reserve them or immediately use the car if it is available.
BMW and partners have worked with Dell Engineering Solutions to integrate the Dell Streak 5 into the car system of the BMW1 and Mini Cooper. This type of capability underlines Dell’s capability of not just developing cool products, but also demonstrates that Dell Engineering Services’ abilities can go beyond the bounds of normal IT and into the world of integrating and embedding products into specialised markets such as the BMW car sharing project.
Also as the pilot rolled out into other cities, Dell’s global footprint positions us as the ideal technological partner to help grow this globally.
This technology is in its ascendency, and I can’t wait to report back on where our customers take mobility next.