BMW has announced that its My BMW Remote app can now be had by customers with smartphones equipped with the Android operating system.

It can be downloaded free of charge from the "Android Apps" section of the Google Play Store website. Available are all the same features as those offered with the iPhone version that became available in the fall of 2010.

BMW owners who have the app can operate many of their vehicles' functions even when the vehicle is parked nowhere near them.

One feature allows the car to be locked or unlocked from a smartphone, a convenience if one shares the car with someone apt to forget their keys or lock them inside.

Another function allows the car's interior temperature to be adjusted remotely. The system can be made to operate on a timer, which can also be adjusted using the app.

The car's horn can also be made to sound with a smartphone, and its lights can be made to flash. This can be useful for those who tend to forget where they parked at the mall.

If the car is within .9 miles of the smartphone, a "Vehicle Finder" feature displays a map to the car's location. This feature can only be employed when the car is switched off, and cannot therefore be used to monitor the car's movements.

Using Google Local Search, users can load their own personal "points of interest" (POIs) from their smartphone into the vehicle's navigation system.

"By extending our My BMW Remote app to Android devices as well, we are responding to the recent rapid spread of this operating system," Dr Eckhard Steinmeier, head of BMW ConnectedDrive, said in a statement. "Google Android is the fastest-growing software platform for smartphones and tablets, so we are now delighted to be able to offer our customers the remote app functions on this operating system, too."

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