The Mini and iPhone: a pairing of the übercool.
The Mini and iPhone: a pairing of the übercool.

Dial M for Mini: iPhone links to cars' entertainment system



In a chase for the youth market, Mini has become the first car maker to link an iPhone application directly into the entertainment system of its facelifted Mini Cooper. The Mini application will let drivers hook the heart and soul of their new cars into their iPhone's brain and internet connection to unlock more entertainment, navigation and messaging options. While Apple has endured a succession of controversies recently, from stolen prototypes to internet security problems to the faulty antennae on its iPhone 4, it has worked for more than a year to help bring the iPhone to Mini drivers.

The Mini application will let drivers upload their address books into their car, listen to satellite radio from any country in the world, check their Facebook or Twitter messages on the multi-media interface (MMI) screen or search Google for nearby restaurants, petrol stations or other points of interest. It also connects its satellite navigation system into the iPhone's. Besides Mini's serious effort to add iPhone-cool to its Cooper, the facelift is critical for another reason. Facing its first head-to-head competition in Audi's A1, the new Mini will be the first in the "re-birthed" brand's history to have all-BMW engines.

In the past, the Mini's petrol and diesel engines have come with varying degrees of help from Chrysler and PSA (Peugeot and Citroën), but the facelift will use engines designed for it by its parent company for the first time. Mini even goes so far as to say there are, "eye-catching design modifications for the exterior and interior," but that might be stretching things, even if the interior has scored the same upgraded interior plastics as the Countryman. There are probably two dozen exterior upgrades, but only the air intakes at the bottom of the Cooper S grille and the LED rear lights are most noticeable.

The comprehensive re-engineering to accommodate the pair of high-tech, turbocharged engines is in stark contrast to one of the most modest visual facelifts in history, but Mini insists it's done enough to justify a relaunch. And a three-hour drive into the Bavarian Alps proved they are probably right. It kept the new petrol engine away (but it's already been comprehensively driven and written about last month in our review of the heavier Countryman, you can read it online at www.thenational.ae/motoring) and showed instead its new, stronger, more economical diesel.

With more torque than even the Cooper S, the Cooper D still manages to slip beneath the 100 grams/km barrier on its CO2 emissions. Its maximum torque of 270Nm arrives at just 1,750rpm, while its 110hp waits until 4,000rpm before it, too, chimes in. It's a recipe for lazy, relaxed gear shifts and letting the engine work hard instead of the driver. The ride quality is also smoother than the old car could manage, though it still has that typical Mini pointiness and the exaggerated feeling of connection with the tyres and the road. Even though most of its weight lurks over the front axles, its razor-sharp steering means it still feels like it will turn around its own fuel-filler cap, regardless of the speed at which you turn into a corner.

While the engineers at Mini will hang their hats on the new engines, the fans of the fiddly bits will point their fingers at the ever-expanding range of customisation you can stick on or in a Mini, from adaptive headlights to three different styles of interior design. But it's the upgraded interior - a direct response to severe German media criticism of the quality of the materials in the old model - that has been given the most attention.

Besides the iPhone, the media interface can link with most main telephones and even USB sticks full of music. At one level, the satellite-navigation maps are stored on an on-board flash drive that can be updated from the web with a USB stick, with the monster centre speedo also housing the navigation display. But the star of the show is the iPhone application, and it works well. It not only future-proofs the Mini's entertainment systems by essentially upgrading every time the phone's application is upgraded, it's also easy to use (via a toggle behind the gear lever) and understand.

The satellite radio has been neatly divided into folders so you can choose from different styles of music or different countries. It can not only receive Facebook and Twitter messages, but can read them out to you so you can keep your eyes on the road. The messaging doesn't stop there, though, because civic-minded Mini drivers can even communicate with other Mini iPhone users to warn them of things like traffic problems or tell them about good coffee stops, for example.

It turns out to be far from the distraction it could have been and, though you'll want to be on top of your roaming rates with your service provider, it actually turns into something useful, rather than the clumsy gimmick it could have been. motoring@thenational.ae

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Key changes

Commission caps

For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:

• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term). 

• On the protection component, there is a cap  of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).

• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated. 

• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.

• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.

Disclosure

Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.

“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”

Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.

Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.

“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.

Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

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PROFILE OF SWVL

Started: April 2017

Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport

Size: 450 employees

Investment: approximately $80 million

Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

Price: From Dh79,600

On sale: Now

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