German premium carmaker BMW held its annual innovation and technology event online on Jul 27, demonstrating the company's determination to accelerate its digitalization. It launched a group of intelligent applications and announced deepened cooperation with Chinese high-tech companies at the event.

"The digitalization of cars is a long journey. BMW started early and now we hope to move faster," said Jochen Goller, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, at the 2020 BMW Innovation and Tech Day on Jul 27.

China will play a leading role in shaping the future of mobility, so BMW will continue to invest in China to strengthen its research and development capability in the country. The automaker will enhance its cooperation with local tech giants to accelerate digitalization, Goller said.

China will play a leading role in shaping the future of mobility, so BMW will continue to invest in China to strengthen its research and development capability in the country

In China, BMW has formed its largest R&D network outside Germany with more than 1,100 engineers, of which over 300 are involved with digitalization. Goller said the group works like a tech company that is "open, agile and flexible

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At the 2020 BMW Innovation and Tech Day, the automaker announced its cooperation with Chinese tech giant Tencent to push forward the application of Tencent's WeScenario and WeChat into BMW vehicles. The company hopes to create a more pleasant, convenient and luxurious digital experience for Chinese BMW customers.

WeScenario is a digital service platform that combines current time, vehicle location, user behavior and other information, actively recommending services to users and even predicting the services that they may need. The apps and content behind these services are all automatically updated, and don't require any manual downloading or installation.

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With the help of the BMW intelligent personal assistant, a human-machine interaction system developed by the auto giant, Tencent WeScenario can be activated by voice command: "Hey BMW, open WeScenario".

The first WeScenarios will be launched in the fourth quarter of this year and cover diverse fields, including information, entertainment, catering and education, according to BMW.

"Both Tencent and BMW share the same vision," Goller said, "That is, connectivity shall be seamlessly integrated to the customer digital life in a highly personalized way.

"Both companies know the boundaries of our respective strength and restrictions. We are convinced the cooperation will be mutually inspiring and beneficial. And most importantly, that these new services will benefit our customers."

His words were echoed by Dowson Tong, senior executive vice-president of Tencent, who said the company will take advantage of its cutting-edge technologies in the fields of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, 5G and big data, to help foster BMW's digitalization in China.

Quality on-board digitalization experience is supported by BMW's advanced human-machine interaction system－the BMW iDrive.

Launched in 2001, the iDrive has now developed to its seventh generation, which allows users to operate through language, touch screen and the iDrive controller. It helps users reduce their need to use mobile phones while driving and gives consideration to safety and convenience.

Last month, BMW also announced a series of new features for in-car digitalization.

BMW's new generation digital key is the world's first that conforms to the 2.0 standards released by the Car Connectivity Consortium, the automaker said. Incorporating the near-field communication technology, the BMW digital key can help users lock and unlock their vehicles by positioning the connected iPhone three to five centimeters above the driver's door handle.

By placing the connected iPhone on the car's smart phone tray and pressing the "start" button on the car, users can start the vehicle without pressing any physical buttons.

Multiple BMW models produced after July will be capable of equipping the digital key. They include the new BMW 3 series, X5, X6, X7, X5M and X6M.

Joining hands with Chinese online video service provider iXigua Video, BMW has become the first carmaker to offer this in-car online video service, which was announced by the automaker at the event.

The videos provide on board cover fields including news, finance and economics, technology, automobile, sport and entertainment, which can be activated by natural language, touch screen and iDrive controller.

The videos are limited to 90 seconds in length and when the vehicle reach a speed of five kilometers per hour, the video will automatically stop, as an effort to guarantee driving safety.

The iXigua Video will be equipped in BMW models produced after July, which include the BMW 4 Series and BMW 6 Series GT. The iXigua Video can be installed in other models with the BMW iDrive 7.0 operating system after a software update at the dealership.

To help users avoid "getting lost" in parking lots, BMW also announced it will launch a new connected function called Indoor Parking, which offers customers a complete map of parking lots and the real-time location of their vehicles.

It also displays facilities in the parking lot, including entrances, exits, elevators, stairs, toilets and charging pillars, which allows customers to select a parking spot in advance according to their needs.