JVC’s First MirrorLink Radio Due in August

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MirrorLink is finally winning a place in more aftermarket radios.

JVC MirrorLInk KW-NSX1JVC Mobile said it will ship at the end of this month a $599 car AV receiver with MirrorLink designed especially to work with the Samsung Galaxy SIII, a top selling phone that rivals the iPhone.

MirrorLink lets the car radio screen “mirror” and control many functions on the phone screen. Until now, it was only available from Sony.

JVC said its radio will mirror Galaxy SIII music playback, phone features including phonebook and perhaps most significantly Google Maps. ‘If Street View is on your phone it will show up on the car radio screen,’ said JVC’s Chad Vogelsong.

Alpine also reaffirmed that it will offer a MirrorLink radio at some point this year.  Kenwood said it will not have a compatible radio until 2013.

An Alpine spokeswoman said, “Later this year, we will launch a product with MirrorLink features for the U.S. aftermarket which will be compatible with MirrorLink-enabled phones.  We have no further information to share at this time.”

JVC’s radio is the double DIN KW-NSX1 with a 6.1 inch touchscreen.  It comes with a separate black box to enable the MirrorLink function.  The box has a  MicroUSB slot to connect to the Samsung SIII and Symbian phones.

The Samsung Galaxy SIII, by contrast is enjoying brisk worldwide sales and is seen as one of the most popular Android models.  Samsung has reportedly sold over 10 million units since the phone launched in the U.S. in June/July and Europe and Asia in May. It expects that figure will nearly double by this fall.

JVC will benefit from a joint effort with Samsung in advertising the phone, but the exact marketing plans are still being finalized. JVC’s Vogelsong pointed out that Samsung intends to  spend more in adverting the SIII than any of its previous phones.  And Samsung’s pockets are deep as the company just posted a $4.5 billion quarterly profit.

Source: JVC Mobile

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