New chapter in the battle between the German premium brands. Audi was the first manufacturer to introduce a touchscreen on their information and entertainment systems, allowing users to draw letters instead of scrolling through an alphanumeric list to find an address or point of interest. As one would expect, BMW refuses to be outdone, and in addition to a new iDrive controller with integrated touch screen, the automaker is working on new gesture-based controls, which differ radically from anything we’ve seen in a production vehicle.

The track comes from some spy shots of next generation BMW X5. In addition to restyled exterior and upgraded propulsion systems that, in the photos may be BMW is also working on a capacitive touch screen built into the rotation handle iDrive. This is something very similar to that originally developed in the Audi A8 (somewhat later in the A7 and now also integrated in the new Audi A3 2012). Move the cursor on the center console independent) and functions as control of MMI. Continue reading →