BMW and Mini Owners Can Control GoPro Cameras with Their Car

GoPro Control in Mini System (Credit: © Mini Cooper USA)

If you own a 2012 or later-model BMW or Mini and you want to make videos with your car, prepare for some excellent news. Owners will be able to control a GoPro camera using their car, which offers endless possibilities for creative, or even devious, minds.

The setup isn’t a simple plug and play. You will need an iPhone4 or later model, plus a GoPro camera that is WiFi capable. The first step is to connect the camera to the phone. Once that’s done, the phone has to be connected to the car. With all of those connections established, the driver can then use the infotainment screen to control the camera’s functions, like starting or stopping recording. There will also be several preset recording modes that will be accessible using the car.

It certainly won’ be a perfect system. The stream to the infotainment screen might be delayed and hard to see as the car hits bumps in the road. The infotainment system controls will not allow drivers to change the advanced settings on the camera, although doing so while driving is probably not a great idea. In that case, stopping the car and playing with the camera directly before continuing on would be the best and most appropriate solution.

The technology certainly isn’t aimed at people who want to create some super high quality video using their car. It’s more about convenience, like when you are sitting at the paddock on a track and decide you want to record your run so you can analyze it later. Or when you are driving down the road and the person next to you starts making threats and trying to crash into you.