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      04-23-2014, 02:07 PM   #1
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CIC (&NBT) iPhone vs iDrive Office

So I've trawled the forums... : and have found no recent update to this. Does anyone know if a fix is out yet for emails in Office via iPhone (5 running iOS 7.1.1) I.e. showing up without changing 'recent list' in notifications?
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      04-23-2014, 02:36 PM   #2
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While I don't know the answer, in general I'd like to say that I find the Office features of iDrive pretty useless. I really don't have any interest in viewing or working with e-mail via iDrive. I'd rather take my phone out of my pocket and view it/respond. Am I missing something? I've seen some of the slick demos where you can verbally dictate a message and send it... but my phone will do the same thing hands-free... and it still seems less than useful except for the shortest and simplest of messages? Am I missing a big benefit?
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      04-23-2014, 04:10 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ezmaass View Post
While I don't know the answer, in general I'd like to say that I find the Office features of iDrive pretty useless. I really don't have any interest in viewing or working with e-mail via iDrive. I'd rather take my phone out of my pocket and view it/respond. Am I missing something? I've seen some of the slick demos where you can verbally dictate a message and send it... but my phone will do the same thing hands-free... and it still seems less than useful except for the shortest and simplest of messages? Am I missing a big benefit?
The trend in most jurisdictions is to enact distracted driving laws that prevent most of us from looking at our phones and responding to an email with it. BMW has gotten onto the “integrated hands-free messaging” bandwagon and attempted to provide its drivers with a safer alternative to reading text messages and emails than through the phone directly. Hence the ability to have your emails/texts read out loud to you and a cut-off to the ability to scroll through the text while the vehicle is in motion. They have not addressed the dictation/composition side directly other than through third-party measures (Siri, etc.). You are right in that it is not a very good interface and it could be argued that it does not really help with the “distracted driving” issues. Ideally, (distracted driving issues aside) I would like to see the ability to respond to both texts and emails via voice. The challenge of course is in the interface relating to the vetting and editing of those responses without causing further distractions. Also, I think for a successful implementation the screen (iDrive) needs to be moved closer to the driver’s line of view (i.e. HUD) otherwise the driver will be faced with the constant diversion from his line of view and away from the road while composing responses.

So, in conclusion, the office integration is not very usable in its current state. BUT (bringing distracted driving issues back on side) when the text/email reading does work it is safer than using the phone directly.
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      04-23-2014, 05:04 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharbotcom View Post
The trend in most jurisdictions is to enact distracted driving laws that prevent most of us from looking at our phones and responding to an email with it. BMW has gotten onto the “integrated hands-free messaging” bandwagon and attempted to provide its drivers with a safer alternative to reading text messages and emails than through the phone directly. Hence the ability to have your emails/texts read out loud to you and a cut-off to the ability to scroll through the text while the vehicle is in motion. They have not addressed the dictation/composition side directly other than through third-party measures (Siri, etc.). You are right in that it is not a very good interface and it could be argued that it does not really help with the “distracted driving” issues. Ideally, (distracted driving issues aside) I would like to see the ability to respond to both texts and emails via voice. The challenge of course is in the interface relating to the vetting and editing of those responses without causing further distractions. Also, I think for a successful implementation the screen (iDrive) needs to be moved closer to the driver’s line of view (i.e. HUD) otherwise the driver will be faced with the constant diversion from his line of view and away from the road while composing responses.

So, in conclusion, the office integration is not very usable in its current state. BUT (bringing distracted driving issues back on side) when the text/email reading does work it is safer than using the phone directly.
I agree that their motivation here seems to be addressing distraction for drivers and keeping them off their phones. But in a way it's perverse... since it's actually encouraging the use of these services. Today while driving, if my phone buzzes in my pocket with new e-mail or text messages, I don't look at it - because (a) it's dangerous and illegal, and (b) if it's that important someone will call me. But for the law-abiding drivers, this is now almost suggesting that there's an acceptable work-around... and I think fiddling with BMW's awkward Office interface, while looking off at the iDrive screen (to your point it's out of the way), is almost more dangerous than a driver looking at their phone.

I'm almost of the mind that BMW's attempts here may make the situation worse. Especially the integration with social media sites... do we really need Facebook while driving?!

I like your suggestion about messages being shown in the HUD. But I'm not convinced, even then, that it wouldn't be a big distraction. It's one thing to glance at something like your speed in the HUD but another altogether to read messages that require significantly longer focus.

The ultimate solution would probably be a system that's 100% voice controlled - both for reading and responding to messages.
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      04-23-2014, 05:20 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ezmaass View Post
I like your suggestion about messages being shown in the HUD. But I'm not convinced, even then, that it wouldn't be a big distraction. It's one thing to glance at something like your speed in the HUD but another altogether to read messages that require significantly longer focus.

The ultimate solution would probably be a system that's 100% voice controlled - both for reading and responding to messages.
As mentioned earlier the biggest challenge lies in the response vetting process. My experience so far with most voice-to-text systems is that they are only about 80 to 90% accurate and require cleaning before sending (at least for my business responses) and therein lies the requirement for eye-on interaction.

BTW I read your response on the iDrive while running an errand - of course I have coded the car to bypass the anti-scroll while in motion safeguard so I was able to read it all. "I plead guilty your honor!"
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Last edited by Sharbotcom; 04-23-2014 at 05:21 PM.. Reason: Spelling
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