Rhode Island: hardtop MINI gets boost from iPhone
As if you did not already feel cool driving around Rhode Island, hardtop stored away for the summer and the wind blowing through your longer, summertime locks as you cruise down the road in your MINI Cooper convertible, the automobile manufacturer is offering you even more in the “cool” department – a MINI Cooper app exclusively for iPhone users. With this new app, the MINI Cooper, a vehicle already featuring iconic looks, style and reputation, takes its status to a whole new level. Now, the roads have never looked so good in RI.
Convertible models and hardtop MINIs alike will have access to the new iPhone application, which also works with iPod Touch models. The application allows the MINI’s in dash interface screen to interact with the driver’s iPhone or iTouch when it is in the vehicle. This way, a driver’s applications present on his or her phone will also be accessible while driving down the road.
The applications are operated on the in dash screen via a control joystick present in the new MINI models available at your local MINI dealer in Rhode Island. Hardtop and convertible drivers will be safer on the roads with the use of this joystick used in place of reaching for their iPhone. However, the joystick does take some getting used to and should be played around with in a parking lot or other safe environment as drivers get the hang of using the new application. The engineers of the MINI app, which is called MINI Connected, have attempted to protect against ways in which the interface screen and joystick could become a hazard to drivers and other vehicles on the road as well. For example, the video feature of the application cannot be used unless the MINI vehicle is in park.
The MINI Connected application gives drivers the ability to access their music and video libraries that they have stored on their Apple devices. Also available is Facebook, Twitter, and Google, as well as a Web radio. Additionally, music junkies have access to a Pandora-like ng music program that has no commercials and allows subscribers to listen even when Internet connection is not available. The radio program is called Mog and will run you and extra $9.99 a month for service.
Finally, MINI has included in their MINI Connected app a feature for you greenies and competitors out there driving around RI, in a convertible MINI while speeding down the roads. This feature, which has been cleverly named the Minimalism Analyzer, judges a driver’s driving habits and sends suggestions to the driver’s iPhone on ways to drive more efficiently and environmentally friendly. Drivers earn points based on their good driving habits. But the fun does not stop there. The program connects all drivers using the MINI app and ranks them based on the number of points they have accumulated. Thanks to this feature, you might think twice about stepping on the accelerator in order to beat that pesty little Prius next to you off the line.
For more information about the MINI Connected application as well as the MINI Cooper lineup of vehicles, visit your local MINI dealer today.
Brian Tavares is a freelance journalist living and working in Rhode Island. Hardtop MINI Coopers were Brian’s first love in the automobile world, which he was first introduced to working at a car wash in RI. Convertible MINI Coopers were soon to follow, as Brian quickly loved the feeling of the wind in his hair driving down the interstate. Today he and his wife both drive a MINI Cooper.
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