My friend Eric Baillargeon just sent me a link to his blog (and to a YouTube video). In the video, a man searches on Google Maps Germany for a place and sends the information to his BMW’s navigation system. When he gets in the car, he’s able to program his navigation system to lead him to the desired destination.

What it means: what a great connection between the online world and the offline world. I couldn’t find any reference to this BMW/Google Maps partnership, so I can’t confirm if it’s true. But I did find this link that talks about a partnership between Volkswagen and Google working together on an advanced navigation system though. Anyone has information out there?

Update: it’s true! Thai Tran from Google Maps just announced it on the Google Blog. “users in Germany can send a business listing found on Google Maps Deutschland directly to cars enabled with the BMW Assist service. Drivers can then set it as the destination for the in-car navigation system, or they can call the business from within the car. No more having to write down the address and re-enter it in the car — now you can just click and drive!”

The Google Operating System blog has a screenshot.