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BMW and Samsung team up with Galaxy Gear smartwatch that talks to your i3

Without a doubt, the most impressive thing that BMW showed at CES this year was a driverless M235i drifting flawlessly around a wet track at Las Vegas Speedway. However, that bit of robotic helmsmanship wasn't the only trick the German company had up its sleeve. Or, more to the point, on its wrist.
Taking a page from rival Mercedes-Benz, BMW demonstrated how a "smartwatch," in this case the Samsung Galaxy Gear, could be made to function usefully with a vehicle, in this case the BMW i3. Calling it a "research application," BMW showed off its BMW i Remote App on the Galaxy Gear; the app gives information about state of battery charge, available range and whether or not all the doors and windows are closed or open. Perhaps more useful still, the watch can be used to send a destination to the i3's navigation unit, adjust the climate control in preparation for a trip and can recognize voice commands. Nifty stuff, if not world-shaking, that could help tech-obsessed luxury buyers take a second look at the upcoming BMW EV.
Take a closer look at the watch in action below, or read thru the BMW press release.

Park your BMW with a wave, 3D instrument clusters, and more

Remote parking your car with a smartphone app is so 2015. In the future envisioned by BMW, you can park your car by giving it hand gestures. Meanwhile, the car will sync with your smart home and display traffic information on your hallway mirror. It's all part of a giant list of concepts and technologies BMW is bringing to the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. Let's break down some of the big ideas BMW's bringing to this year's CES. Park By Waving Actually, you don't even need to wave to get this i3 Concept to start moving. From inside your house, simply picking up the key can signal your connected garage door to open and tell your car to pull out into the driveway. Out in the wider world this concept takes automated parking a step further than current in-car parking assistance systems. Once a spot is found, the driver gets out and waves at the car. The i3 then does all the movement on its own. What's the benefit of watching your car park instead of sitting inside while it parks itself? Not much, other that the ability to fit into narrow parking spaces. But I'm a sucker for automation like this, as long as it works better than those infernal foot-kick tailgate opening systems. The Bumper That Snitches For You If you have a car already covered in cameras, why not use them for more than parking? Bumper Detect is BMW's take on the valet-mode recording in the Chevrolet Corvette. But instead of filming any motion, BMW's system monitors the body and bumpers for any unexpected impacts and immediately captures the footage. An alert goes to the driver's smartphone via the BMW Connected App, with available live streaming images. Samsung Smart Things And The Smart Home The i3 on display at CES intergrates Samsung's Smart Things app into the iDrive controller. This allow you to use connected smart home features inside the car, like turning off lights or adjusting the thermostat. BMW's vision further into future integrates the car into the home even more with what the automaker calls Open Mobility Cloud. You can call it a personal assistant or an evil digital spy, depending on your perspective of this kind on technology. In any case, Open Mobility Cloud uses predictive algorithms to plan the day and give relevent information through BMW's smartphone app or – in a super futuristic way – a Mobility Mirror inside the house.

Spirit Lake Cycles brings a new look to vintage BMW bikes

It doesn't take a lot of room to work on motorcycles. In fact, Spirit Lake Cycles, which gets the spotlight in the latest video from Petrolicious, started out of a kitchen. Now, this two-man operation has created a small business to bring a custom look to vintage BMWs. The company is best known for a bike that it calls the CBMW. Based on an R90/6, the name comes from the cycle's Honda-sourced fuel tank. The streamlined design and white pinstripes lend the look of one of the Bavarian brand's own early creations, but the chopped fenders and under-seat exhaust show a much more modern style. Spirit Lake Cycles doesn't always go for such a highly modified design, though. The other cycles that Petrolicous highlights, including a gorgeous BMW R90S, appear far closer to stock than the show bike. The company says its motorcycles are meant to be ridden, and you can see the proof of that in this video.