MINI Releases Application for iPhone

The success of Apple and the iPhone has no doubt had a huge impact on the future of mobile computing and cell phone industry. It revolutionized what to expect from a phone. How does this fit in with the automotive landscape, you might say? In more ways then you might think - a lot of good things are coming in the pipeline.

The car companies have noticed in a big way. MINI is a trendy company that has used various forms of marketing to promote it's vehicles. As part of that, MINI has just launched a roadside assistance application for the iPhone - the first of it's kind.

It's an amazing use of technology - the application is free to MINI owners. From it, owners can dial the roadside assistance line and have key information transmitted like GPS location and the car's VIN number that gives specific details about the the vehicle in question.

No more attempting to give information about where you are located (which possibly in a dangerous situation). I applaud MINI for being ahead of the game with this  - in the future the possibilities are endless.

Nissan is said to be developing an application for it's LEAF electric car that will let you monitor remaining battery life and do things like activate the HVAC system. Games, control applications - I'm excited to see what the future holds for automotive-related applications on the iPhone platform!