RE: TFT and music playback - 2

Zitat von Ali-bear im Beitrag #14

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I don't know about that Fred. I mean, it's a lot easier for BMW to update the connected app than for me to take the bike in to a dealer to get the firmware updated. Perhaps the problem is in having the app done right and kept updated, I'm assuming they outsource this.
Triumph seem to have had _problems_ in getting their equivalent up and running.

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Unfortunately it seems that they also have to update the TFT firmware to get/keep things working, as for example it has to support Bluetooth comms to a range of different headsets and furthermore, keep up as BT standards evolve. The TFT firmware also potentially has to be updated to accommodate changes or corrections to the functionality of the BMW connected app. The app may also have to change simply to retain compatibility with new versions of Android and Apple's IOS, and also has to have updates to maps for its satnav functionality. Even though it is only a arrow, not a map based system, it still has to be up to date with road and speed limit changes, so BMW have given themselves another problem - i.e. being a satnav manufacturer which is surely not a core competence. They should leave this to the experts like TomTom. In my opinion, by choosing this architecture BMW have given themselves, and owners, a never ending compatibility and updating nightmare.

To compound all this, unfortunately it appears that some genius thought it was OK to have updates to the relatively large firmware running on the TFT take place via the bike's diagnostic port and across the relatively limited bandwidth of the bike's internal data network. The result appears to be that although the bike's own software updates can be quite quick, if a TFT update is required then the bike has to spend 3-4 hours connected to the dealer's diagnostic rig, stopping them from using it for anything else, which is why they are so reluctant to do it. As a minimum BMW should have equipped the TFT with a USB port or maybe even wi-fi capability so that it could be updated independently of the bike, possibly even by the owner.

I would just loved to have been in some of the meetings where BMW decided on this clueless approach! If you simply design the bike to provide an alternative display for an owner's smartphone, as Honda have done, then most of these issues go away. It is down to the smartphone operating system and the apps a users runs, such as music players, satnav apps like TomTom, etc, to maintain ongoing compatibility with each other, with BT headsets, and with the particular display sharing technology used - Apple Carplay and/or Android Auto. All the bike manufacturer then has to do is meet the spec for these two display sharing technologies so that users can run their choice of apps and display them on the bike's display rather than have to mount their phone somewhere on the bike where the screen can be seen. Ideally with such a system it would be nice if BMW provided a cubby hole with USB power to store the phone - something which they have not seen fit to provide for the current system which is also dependent on a connected smartphone.