BMW Intros iPad Headrest Option and WiFi

Rear seat entertainment companies better sharpen your product planning pencils NOW. Starting this fall BMW is offering a headrest iPad holder so kids can watch videos without damaging mom and dad’s iPad.

And, the automaker is providing a WiFi hotspot so those iPads and other devices can stream video to the back seat, reports autoevolution.

At the 2010 Paris Auto Show, BMW will show off the iPad holder that will be released on the automaker’s new X3 and then in other models starting in spring 2011. Users can turn the holder for landscape or portrait viewing and they can adjust it for different angles.

This should help aftermarket suppliers of headrest and overhead monitors get serious about retooling for the post-iPad world. Here’s what a blog is ranting on the subject.

We’re trying to get more info on the iPad holder and to verify the WiFi hotspot so stay tuned.

Info on the WiFi hotspot is less widely available but autoevolution is reporting the BMW Car Hotspot will be available this fall. Consumers can buy the option as an aftermarket accessory from the Original BMW Accessories line or purchase it in a new car as a BMW ConnectedDrive feature.

The hotspot is not quite as sexy as the Autonet Mobile. BMW’s version requires the user have a GSM data-enabled SIM card to link with its hotspot. So YOU provide the 3G connection with your phone’s SIM card and BMW’s hotspot distributes the connection around the car via encrypted WiFi. This may work fine in Europe, but in the U.S. only phones from T-Mobile and AT&T of the major carriers offer SIM cards (Verizon and Sprint phones do not).

BMW also introduced various new iPod and Bluetooth options, according to several reports.

Source: autoevolution, iLounge, auto spies

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