Mercedes releases boring iPhone app for exciting car

Mercedes-Benz AMG is the next automaker to join the battle for customers' attention in the Apple iTunes App Store. Except while the other automakers have built apps that actually do something aside from advertise cars (for example, Audi's game and Ford's photo editor), Mercedes-Benz's app does nothing more than showcase the C63 AMG.

The main menu of the application features four options: Video, Photos, Sounds, Specs, and Find a Dealer.

Disappointingly, the Videos section is essentially a list of four videos that stream from Mercedes' Web site. Sorry, iPod Touch owners, this means that you'll have to be connected to Wi-Fi to view the videos. It may be a good idea for iPhone 3G users to be connected to Wi-Fi, considering how sluggishly the videos loaded. Once you've gotten past the slow load times, you'll be treated to C63 AMG promo videos, one of which is a commercial that can be seen on TV.

The Photos, Sounds, and Specs sections can all be accessed offline, fortunately. The Photos section lets you view a gallery of eight photos of the C63 from various angles. It would be nice if there were a function that let you use one of the photos as a wallpaper, but there isn't. All you can do is look at them. The Sounds section lets you listen to audio clips of the C63, but you can do that by listening to the Car Tech Podcast (shameless plug). The Specs button takes you to--you guessed it--specs for the C63 sedan. Finally, the Find a Dealer button launches a Google Map marked with Mercedes-Benz dealerships (incidentally, there are 10 dealerships in the San Francisco Bay Area).

The Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG app is only really good for about half an hour of fun, including the time spent waiting for the videos to stream. I'm a big fan of the C63 AMG and even I don't think this app is worth the download. It's almost a shame that such a boring app shares the name of such a fantastic ride.