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Nokia Drive with MirrorLink on Toyota Touch Life hands-on (video)
Just a few meters from the entrance to Nokia World at London's sprawling ExCel Exhibition Centre, we found a Toyota iQ compact with Nokia branding on the door. And in the dash was Toyota's new Touch Life smartphone integration system, complete with Nokia Drive compatibility and display mirroring via MirrorLink. In addition to mirroring your Symbian Belle (or MeeGo) display on the 7-inch touchscreen, Touch Life also provides a driver-friendly interface, including enormous icons to control music playback, or to place calls to contacts by tapping their name and photo, or by using the jumbo telephone keypad. It also integrates with the Nokia Drive app, with a very simple (and also oversized) navigation interface. The concept is simple: access basic smartphone functions as you drive while limiting distractions. While you're parked, you'll have unrestricted access to your phone's interface, but non-critical features are disabled as you drive. The demo unit we saw is still a few months away from hitting production, so there were a few hiccups. After connecting the Nokia 701 to the system, the smartphone's display appeared on the in-dash screen within a few seconds. We had full access to all of the phone's features until shifting into drive, when a much simpler screen popped up, with Call, Drive and Music modules. Everything worked rather seamlessly until we neared the end of the demo, when an "Enjoy the sound while driving" message appeared on screen, where the navigation window had been just a moment before. There isn't a firm release date in place, and the demo unit only appears to work with Symbian Belle at the moment -- though MeeGo support (and likely Windows Phone as well) will be available after launch. Jump past the break to see how it works from behind the wheel.%Gallery-137700%
Toyota's Touch Life will "mirror" your iPhone's display
One of the frustrating things about driving a car with an iPhone (or other smartphone) in tow is syncing its contents with the car's audio or navigation system. But thanks to Toyota's new Toyota Touch Life, that doesn't have to be so much of a problem anymore. According to Engadget, Toyota's new Touch Infotainment system lets iPhone and iPod touch users access a handful of apps directly from their iDevice. By downloading Toyota's "application launcher," a free app from the App Store, users can access certain apps on the in-car display, which mirrors iPhone's screen...in part. Only certain apps are compatible, including Garmin StreetPilot and some Internet news and radio apps like AUPEO!, plus Stitcher, Facebook and Twitter. Touch Infotainment is exclusive to new new Toyota Verso-S, Yaris and Hilux cars. We don't know if will become available to the Avensis, Prius or Verso models or as an add-on to existing Toyota vehicles.
Toyota introduces Touch Life smartphone mirroring system, your Prius and iPhone can become one
If you're looking to get your smartphone more in-sync with your car, you may want to consider a new Toyota with the Touch Life infotainment system. Given a compatible smartphone / app combo, it can mirror the phone's display on its 7-inch touchscreen for access to navigation, music or social networking services. Nokia owners can connect their Symbian Belle devices by way of MirrorLink, developed by the Car Connectivity Consortium, in its first deployment by the automotive industry. Apple iPhone (and iPod) faithful will have to install Application Launcher in order to sync up with the infotainment system. If driving distractions are a concern, steering wheel controls play nice with the tech as well -- it's not quite SYNC Applink, but we'll take it. Toyota promises features and smartphones will continue to be added, but for a current list of compatible cars, devices and apps, check the press release below.
