MirrorLink’s Big Upgrade Due Soon

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MirrorLink

A new MirrorLink upgrade should be completed in weeks that will mean simpler car radio connections to smartphones.

MirrorLink, which lets a car radio mirror and control what’s on a smartphone, will get two major feature upgrades.

First, you won’t need a USB connection from the phone to the car radio, you can use a wireless connection over WiFi Direct, which is used in some leading phones including the Samsung S4.

Second, MirrorLink will become a more free wheeling technology because it will let you add apps to your radio as they become available (after getting MirrorLink certification).  Right now you are limited to a few apps that came with the phone originally.

The developer of MirrorLink doesn’t want drivers playing video games as they drive so it is finalizing an app-approval process for certifying which apps are okay to use while driving and which will require your car to be in park. 

The rules for the safety guidelines should be finalized in a matter of weeks, said Alan Ewing, President of the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC), MirrorLink developer. At that time the new v1.1 MirrorLink standard should be ready to adopt by suppliers.

A few new V1.1 phones are expected to be available by the end of 2013 and will most likely be Windows phones with Android phones to follow next year, said analyst Gareth Owen of ABI Research.

Car radio suppliers including Sony, JVC and Pioneer say they are not yet prepared to state when they will adopt the new standard.

Pioneer’s Ted Cardenas said, “Until the specification is finalized, it is premature to comment on Pioneer’s plan for potential updates and/or implementation.”

MirrorLink, along with another similar technology found in some new cars called GENIVI will be available in almost 30 million cars worldwide by the end of 2018, up from around 10,000 and the end of 2012, says ABI Research.

Source: CEoutlook

 

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