Last year, iOS users got their first dibs in unlocking their cars; well, their BMWs with their smartphone. They call this a Digital Key Plus and it was made exclusively for the iPhone. With ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, a sort of secure wireless communication technology that was introduced in the iPhone not too long before. They also introduced the same technology in Samsung’s Galaxy device and a few Android devices a few years ago onward. To be fair, the technology was introduced specifically for modern cars that now offers keyless entry technology. The technology was meant to be worked into a digital key that you can use to unlock and drive your car even without the original key from the manufacturers for the specific cars. So far though the only manufacturer that has been progressive enough to introduce digital keys for smartphones is BMW, for iPhone users.
That will not be the case anymore though, at least in terms of only iPhone users getting BMW’s love. BMW have updated their cars to bring digital keys to Samsung and a few Google Pixel devices running Android 13 and supporting UWB connection. Samsung devices from the Galaxy S21 Ultra onward with UWB support can now unlock BMW cars. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, Z Fold 3, Note 20 also can now support UWB digital keys. Select Google Pixel smartphone like the Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro can unlock BMW cars with UWB digital keys too.
There is another caveat too with the new UWB digital key function. The function will only work with BMW vehicles produced November 2022 onward with older vehicles to be added in the future via a software update.
BMW says that the function can be easily activated via the My BMW app, available on the Google Play Store. Once activated, your smartphone becomes your Digital Key Plus. That also means that you can leave your physical keys in the drawer and drive your car as if it had a key in it just if you carry your smartphones with the My BMW app with you. It does not just unlock your car and allow you to drive it wherever you want to go, you can also program the BMW to lock itself as you walk away from your BMW. That way you can walk away from your car without worrying about locking your cars.
For now, BMW has not opened the function to any other Android devices. As more Android smartphones feature UWB function on the smartphones, we are suspecting that BMW will also start offering more Digital Key Plus support to other devices. BMW will not be the only manufacturer that jumps on the Digital Key bandwagon too as more smartphones support UWB.
If you have a dream bike, you might be looking at bikes from a handful of brands. You have Ducati, Harley Davidson, Triumph, and the likes. Then there is one from Germany; you have BMW Motorrad.
The Bavarian automotive giant has been one of the leading brands in motorcycles forever. They are right up there with the likes of Ducati and Triumph. At this point, they are also the maker of one of the most powerful production motorcycles in the world, the BMW S 1000 RR superbike.
They are not all about making fast bikes though. They make some of the most practical motorcycles for all kinds of purposes. What they did not make before is a scooter, until now. This one is special though.
We start with what you might ask about with electric vehicles; how far does this go? The BMW CE 04 packs an 8.9kWh battery, not your regular laptop battery capacity. That battery offers up to 130km in range from a single charge. It is a lithium-ion battery that can be charged via a regular wall socket you have at home or a quick charging port for cars. Through regular wall sockets (2.3Kw output), you get a full charge in just four hours and 20 minutes. If you can get it to a quick charger at 6.9kW you cut the charging time by 40 minutes.
Source: BMW
Power? It is a single liquid cooled magnetic electric motor powering the rear wheels on this one. The motor drives the wheels via a single-gear toothed belt transmission. That transmission puts 31kW on the wheels and then to the road and 62Nm of torque available immediately when you throttle the motorcycle. With that kind of power, you can bring the electric motorcycle to 180 km/h at the top, faster than some fully electric cars even. To make sure that it stops properly, the BMW CE 04 gets twin disc brakes.
All these techs are wrapped in a body unlike any BMW motorbike. To be fair, it looks like a rather bulky urban scooter. Underneath the pretty panels are tubular steel frame to ensure that the motorbike is rigid enough to handle the hustles and bustles of city travels. The modern design also allows the CE 04 to have a “floating” seat look.
Source: BMW
Up front is a telescoping fork attached to the front wheel. Out the back is a single sided swing arm with fully covered spring strut. Riding in the dark should prove no problem too with BMW’s LED Adaptive Headlight Pro in the headlamp for both high and low beams. Alongside daytime running lights, the headlamp also offers special light functions for “welcome and “goodbye”.
The BMW CE 04 also comes with four riding modes. You choose between “ECO”, “Rain”, “Road”, and “Dynamic” for optimized rides in any situation you might put the bike in. All of these can be accessed via a modern looking 10.25-inch TFT colour display with Integrated Map Navigation. If you have BMW Motorrad’s Connected App, you can even check the CE 04’s status and even ride statistics.
Source: BMW
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Availability
BMW has not announced its official availability in Malaysia just yet. The preview means that BMW is planning to bring the CE 04 into the country soon though. They have not announced any pricing too at this time. All we can do is wait for BMW Motorrad to make the announcement later in the year.
iQOO, a sub-brand of Vivo, has officially launched their latest gaming smartphone, iQOO 11 5G in Malaysia.
Vivo’s answer to gaming smartphones, the iQOO 11 5G
The iQOO 11 5G is Vivo’s answer to the expanding gaming smartphone bracket. Symbolized as “I Quest On and On”, Vivo founded iQOO in 2019 to cater to those looking for high performance and gaming experience. iQOO has officially announced that the device will be made available in Malaysia starting December 2nd.
The brand has already garnered a lot of attention in China with its previous line of devices, iQOO 9 series with Snapdragon® 8 mobile platform released in January this year. Since, then it has expanded to other countries including India, Thailand and Indonesia.
Teasers for Malaysia launch
In recent months a series of teasers and leaks were spotted, hinting at iQOO’s arrival in Malaysia. In late October, iQOO official stores were spotted on both Lazada and Shopee.
iQOO is the premium partner of BMW M Motorsport
The biggest teaser was dropped in early November, where posters of the iQOO 11 5G was released in Malaysia with BMW M Motorsport branding. iQOO has been a global partner of BMW M Motorsport since August 2020 for design collaborations and racing sponsorships. A “Guess The Slogan” competition was also held from November 4th to 10th to garner attention, with a chance to win a Razer Kishi. More, recently an approved registration for the iQOO 11 was spotted in SIRIM, confirming the arrival in Malaysia.
Guess the slogan and win with iQOO
iQOO 11 5G Specifications and availability
Although it has been officially announced to launch in Malaysia on December 2nd, no official word on device specifications have been made. Based on announcements in China, their variant of the device comes with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. If it remains the same, it will be the first device in Malaysia to have the new Snapdragon SoC.
Express your interest in the iQOO 11 5G and win prizes
The iQOO 11 5G is not for sale yet but will be available exclusively online. From November 21st to December 2nd, you can express your interest in the device via the following Google Form. By signing up, you will have a chance to experience the device for yourself. You also stand a chance of winning a share of the RM 30 000 prize pool.
In 2008, a certain public figure announces something that would change the world. It changed a landscape of more than one industry. It changed the automotive industry certainly, a billion-dollar industry. But more than that, people seldom realise that they have also changed the tech industry.
That person is Elon Musk and his tenure in Tesla (you would have guessed by now). He and the modern pioneering company took a massive lead in the electric future with a certain Tesla Roadster. When the Model S arrives not very long after that, the automotive industry changed massively. Again, it was not just the automotive industry that changed, the tech industry changed too.
With the advancement of Tesla and its largely connected ecosystem that makes autonomous driving possible, the entire automotive industry starts realising that they are not integrating themselves with enough tech to keep up. Even until today, experts still consider Tesla’s technology and understanding of electric cars, and assimilating tech in cars years ahead of its closest competition.
But that is just what Tesla has been doing with the automotive industry, revolutionising it to the point that buying a car now is like buying a smartphone. Most automotive brands are already selling battery powered vehicles. Every other car manufacturer has some sort of all-electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid vehicle in the works. Every other manufacturer is looking into smart assistance inside and outside the car. All of them are trying to integrate the car controls into a smartphone, something Tesla has been doing out of the box since the Model S.
An All-Electric Future in Malaysia
In Malaysia though you have to take a step back because Tesla is not available her. Big shame really, since Malaysia seems like a prime market with enough expertise and readiness to jump right into an all-electric transportation future. Some of the public transportation you see on the road are technically all-electric already. Sadly, they have their own charging system built into their own hubs kept away from the world.
It may not seem that bleak though with BMW Group moving in the country with an all-electric future in their minds. Prove that they are one of the only people that really strives toward that all-electric future? They have introduced two all-electric vehicles in Malaysia.
The All-Electric MINI
If you have not known yet, MINI is a subsidiary owned by BMW Group. Now that you know, MINI has just introduced a brand-new all-electric car that was launched globally and now in Malaysia. They have launched the All-Electric MINI for the Malaysian market. Technically this is not the very first All-Electric vehicle from MINI, it is their second. In our opinion, it is their best looking to date.
It is the size and proportion of a Mini Cooper, perfect. It has got the funky wheel design from the older All-Electric Countryman, nice. It packs about 184 horses under its meek bonnet, great. It weighs about 1.7 tonnes. Wait a minute, it is heavier than a regular Mini Cooper.
That added weight means a 0-100hm/h time of 7.3-seconds, modest in the automotive world that the MINI lives in. In NEDC tests, the car can go up to 270km as well before needing a full charge from its revolutionary 12-module batteries and efficient electric motors powering the front wheels.
Of course, MINI is not going to compromise on handling and will tune the All-Electric MINI to be like the go-kart that is the regular MINI Cooper. With that you also get four driving modes in the car. If you want to keep your MINI going as long as possible on a single charge though you want to put it on Green+ mode. In that mode, it is possible to drive the car with just a single paddle.
The All-Electric Mini is available in Malaysia is now available in Malaysia in three colour options – White Silver with Energetic Yellow pairing, British Racing Green, and Chilli Red. You can book one online via their website with a booking fee of MYR 1,000 if you really like. Its full price (OTR w/o insurance), after Sales Tax Exemption is MYR 218,380.78, which is quite a lot of money for a small car.
The Car in Your Pocket
Source: BMW
When BMW introduced the 330e and 530e into the market as well, they were one of the first and only cars in the market that we could integrate with our smartphones. You could control its air-conditioning unit to the right temperature just before you went into the car. You can unlock your car at a touch of your smartphones, you could monitor the car’s battery health and charge status from your smartphone. Of course, you could even get an appointment at the service centre set from your smartphones, if you are more comfortable with that.
The in-car infotainment system across any vehicles today received a major overhaul. While it was not something very new, they made connecting your smartphone to the car much simpler and better. Well, back then, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay did not come as standard in any car, but it is now. Better late than never, they say.
More than that though, the in-car infotainment system of the current modern world looks cleaner than before, more streamlined. That helps it to be a bit more intuitive than before, and requires less buttons and input than before, which is great. Cars like the All-Electric MINI packs Apple CarPlay out of the box. The only thing missing now from these cars is the wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay ability in that sense.
In certain reports and rumours, we even hear that BMW and even Mercedes-Benz is looking to do away with keys and keyfobs completely. You only need your smartphones to unlock and access your car. In our opinions, that is really cool, but really dangerous as well. Nevertheless, it is a future that we are looking forward to.
Smartphone Technology in Cars, or is it the Other Way Round?
Source: BMW
There is a common ground between an all-electric car and a smartphone other than sharing an infotainment system. Technically they are still two different things anyway. Both these things are reliant on batteries and needs to be constantly charged.
Smartphones usually require us to constantly charge them on a daily basis. Our daily drivers, for example receives a nightly charge most of the time, or is constantly charging in the office, just so that we do not get battery life anxiety. Most electric cars today that is available promises more than 200km from a single charge. If you are driving in town plenty, that is probably two or three days-worth of charge, could be more.
Most of the time, you are going to charge it at home too, if there is an available 3-pin wall outlet. If there is a charging facility, you can leave it charging for about two to four hours for a full charge. For the All-Electric MINI, if you do find a DC charging station, you can charge the car within an hour. If you charging out of a normal outlet at home, you can get it charged in 12 hours, an overnight charge. You are not going to leave the battery flat though in most cases.
Most all-electric vehicles also come with a smart planner to help you plan your drive around these days. The car helps you plan your drive around town and find the best charging spots and how long of a stop you need to get you around your day. It might seem tedious at first, but with more available charging ports, it could just be more convenient for you to drive an electric car. Imagine wireless charging for your car too. It is just like bringing your smartphone and plugging it into the nearest plug source or your power bank or notebooks for an extra charge for the day.
But there are still differences between the two technologies. For one, you can bring your smartphone around and charge it via a power bank, but you cannot charge your car with a power bank. Of course, the other being the price of investment for a smartphone is greatly smaller compared to a vehicle, especially the current generation electric vehicles.
BMW very recently just launched their brand-new car, the X5 xDrive45e M Sport in Malaysia. While this is not BMW’s most expensive car, it is still regarded as one of BMW’s most premium offerings. They call it the ‘Boss’ car.
If you are not yet familiar with BMW’s offerings, the BMW X5 xDrive45e M Sport is BMW’s premium SUV offering. The top-of-the-line BMW X5 SUV packs a powerful inline six-cylinder internal combustion petrol engine. The BMW signature engine features forced induction too in the of BMW’s TwinPower Turbo. The 3.0-litre powerhouse pushes 286 hp to the wheels.
This is still a plug-in hybrid vehicle though with an electric motor to keep emissions low while keeping speeds very high. The electric motors produce a mere 113 hp on top of the petrol engine. The combination of the internal combustion engine and the electric motors pushes a total of 394 hp and 600Nm of torque on all four wheels of the BMW X5 xDrive45e M Sport. That means a 0-100km/h time of 5.6 seconds; rapid, in a bulging SUV weighing just over 2.4 tonnes.
Available in four colour offerings, the BMW X5 xDrive45e M Sport can be yours on your driveway for MYR 448,800. Or, for free if you have a smartphone, just know that you cannot actually drive it and feel what its like behind the wheel. Just head to the webapp on your smartphone here.
The app is simple really, it is based on Augmented Reality technology, nothing new there. If you remember, not too long ago Google Lens has become quite popular with having strange and exotic animals in your living room. That is the exact thing here, in car format.
Of course, within the app you can customise the car a little bit. You can change the colour, for example. There are some interactive pointers for you to click on too to find out more about the BMW X5. The only thing you do not get to do is drive out in the car.
This is technically a small advancement in car buying experience globally though. You could still go to BMW’s website to customise your car on the website itself. This is just taking it to a new level where you can get to see the car itself in roughly the exact dimensions. What do you think though, should more car manufacturers do this sort of stuff? Comment below.
