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Two Sony MirrorLink car stereos coming in Q2, along with compatible Samsung smartphones (hands-on video)
For everybody who's waited with bated breath for the widespread arrival of MirrorLink, take heed because the smartphone / car stereo integration technology is about to make a significant splash in the first half of this year. Along with the Sony XAV-601BT and the XAV-701 HD -- two MirrorLink-enabled Sony head units set for a Q2 arrival -- we've also just learned Samsung will introduce MirrorLink support for its smartphones during this time frame as well. Even Sony Ericsson's jumping into the fray, although the company wasn't able to provide any additional details regarding availability. Be sure to read on for our impressions of the new toys, along with a video of the same.
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 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.
Nokia announces Car Mode with MirrorLink support for Symbian Belle and N9 smartphones (video)
It's about time some fruit emerged from the Car Connectivity Consortium, and Nokia is here to show other manufacturers how it's done -- and perhaps more importantly, why it's significant. The company has introduced Car Mode for Symbian Belle and N9 smartphones, which is an application that interfaces with MirrorLink (previously known as Terminal Mode), to provide a seamless and attractive connection between your smartphone and stereo head unit. Like we've previously seen, the system essentially works by mirroring your phone's display onto the vehicle's in-dash touchscreen. From there, you're given full access to navigation, music, contacts and videos without the need to fumble with your handset. Coinciding with this announcement, Alpine has introduced an aftermarket head unit known as the ICS-X8 that supports MirrorLink, which is expected to go on sale in November. We're loving the functionality here, but are still wondering when Android, Windows Phone and iOS will get their share of due diligence. Follow the break for video demos from Nokia and Alpine, along with the full PR.
Jaguar XJ with BlackBerry integration hands-on (video)
This week at BlackBerry World 2011, Jaguar is showcasing one of its lovely XJ sedans outfitted with a prototype of its upcoming Connect and View technology which the car manufacturer is developing together with RIM, Denso, and RealVNC. Like Terminal Mode, the system allows a client running on the vehicle's head unit to connect to a server installed on a BlackBerry smartphone. Communication is handled by VNC -- a platform-independent remote framebuffer protocol, which mirrors the handset's display on the car's infotainment screen and maps the device's physical buttons to softkeys. This provides control of the phone directly from the center stack of the XJ sedan but lets the company block potentially distracting apps. Audio is piped via Bluetooth while VNC traffic is routed over USB, thus also keeping the BlackBerry conveniently charged. Jaguar hopes to have Connect and View in its vehicles by late 2012. Until then, check out our hands-on video (above) and the press release after the break.
Car Connectivity Consortium forms to bring more smartphones to more interiors
Though Terminal Mode has always been an open standard we've never really seen any tech companies outside of Espoo show much interest in the stuff, which lets a car mirror a phone's display. When Nokia sort of shifted gears and signed on with Microsoft that left us wondering what would be next for the company's infotainment efforts. Good things, as it turns out. The Car Connectivity Consortium has been founded to drive "global innovation for in-vehicle connectivity," and both Terminal Mode and Nokia will play a big part -- though a bigger part will be played by Daimler, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, and VW. They're joined by electronics companies Alpine, LG, Panasonic, and Samsung, making us think that maybe Terminal Mode's time has properly come. Also on the docket for the CCC is study of NFC, which will hopefully standardize the sort of awesome key interactivity BMW recently showed off.
Renesas shows off Terminal Mode smartphone integration on ARM Cortex (video)
Terminal Mode is something of a standard for smartphone connectivity with in-car systems, but as of now Nokia is the only one really diving in head first with the stuff, and Renesas is jumping right in after it. At the International Automotive Electronics Technology Expo the company showed off its Terminal Mode implementation, running on a Linux and ARM Cortex-powered SoC. As you can see in the video below it replicates the phone's interface exactly, which is something of a problem at this point. With any luck future Terminal Mode implementations will ditch the phoney UI and go with something a little more driver-friendly.
Jungo and RealVNC partner up, aim to marry phones and infotainment systems
Quietly, in-car infotainment systems have progressed greatly here at CES 2011. What started a few years back with the integration of SYNC into Ford vehicles has blossomed into an industry-wide obsession, and now two of the biggest names that work behind the scenes are joining up to better integrate mobiles (and applications) with vehicle entertainment systems. Jungo and RealVNC's newfound bond has resulted in a CEA-approved solution to make that kind of magic happen, and it's one that just so happens to support Terminal Mode. The combined Automotive Connectivity middleware will enable a car's head unit to automatically detect, access and control mobile devices in the vehicle and display their content on the screen in the dashboard. The design combines VNC (remote access and control) technology from RealVNC with Jungo's tech, featuring device connectivity, media and network management, USB and Bluetooth protocol stacks. Hard to say when automakers will grab hold of this stuff and start offering it from the factory, but if we know anything about progress in the automotive industry, we'd say we're still a year or so out.
Mercedes Terminal Mode partnership comes to fruition with internet-connected 2012 C-Class
Last year Nokia made something of a telematics coup, partnering with just about every major European manufacturer and doing everything it could to get its Terminal Mode in-car smartphone integration into more autos. Mercedes was one of those partners and now we're getting a glimpse of the result in the new C-Class. Merc has made some minor exterior updates to the car (not necessarily for the better, in our opinion), but on the inside comes an updated Mercedes COMAND infotainment system that, for the first time, offers full internet access. Using Terminal Mode the car interacts with a smartphone to provide the data, allowing dashboard surfing (while stationary) and the transmission of Google Maps points and directions right to the vehicle. There's also Bluetooth for streaming your tunes through the car's sound system and a USB port in the armrest to keep things charged while you decimate that slab. PR is below if you're looking for more details, or you can just wait for our impressions when we get to Detroit in a few weeks.
Exclusive: VW's Terminal Mode prototype with a Nokia N97 at the helm, we go hands-on
What if you could plug any smartphone into your car and control your GPS, music and apps with large, vehicular controls? That's the entire idea behind Nokia's Terminal Mode. We trekked over to Volkswagen's research laboratories in Palo Alto, California to test the first working prototype actually integrated into a car -- a VW Passat, to be precise -- and got to put some German pedal to the metal with Ovi Maps guiding our every move. What did we think? Not bad for a product that's nearly two years away. Find out why (and get a video tour!) right after after the break. %Gallery-103637%
VW Passat takes the red pill, jacks into Nokia's Terminal Mode (video)
We've seen flashy concepts of what Nokia's seamless cellular infotainment initiative might look like, but it took a pair of Germans from Volkswagen to give us our first glimpse of Terminal Mode in action. At MobileBeat 2010, engineers showed off the video after the break, which shows how a prototype VW Passat might be rigged -- in this case duplicating the phone's display in its entirety (plus additional controls) on the auto's larger touchscreen. Sadly, VW said the tech's still a couple years away from commercial integration into vehicles, though they expect to see third parties selling Terminal Mode add-on kits and the like a bit sooner. Until then, Nokia and partner companies have to figure out how to encourage developers while simultaneously restricting apps that might distract drivers; VW reps told us that while you'll download car-compatible apps from existing app stores rather than a separate Terminal Mode marketplace, compatible programs will be categorized and restricted from in-motion use based on a set of still-to-be-determined rules. Nerd-to-English translation: don't expect to watch Netflix for iPhone on the go. Sans a hack, of course.
Clarion joins Nokia's Terminal Mode movement for the greater infotainment good
We're living in the post-smartphone world, where restaurant reviews and silly time-wasting games are never more than a fingerprint away, and now it's hard to see us as anything but tippy-toeing into the smartcar revolution. While there are plenty of competing implementations out there, Nokia seems to be doing the best at unifying the playing field, announcing a partnership with Clarion to bring its Terminal Mode infotainment integration to yet another major brand. This follows on deals with Alpine, Harman, and nearly every major European auto manufacturer. That's a lot of partnerships, but as of now no actual products, leaving us feeling a bit indifferent about the whole thing -- for the moment at least.
Nokia's Terminal Mode spotted in the wilds of the Geneva Motor Show
Those lovely people over at Nokia have furnished us with a few images of what their dashboard integration will look like, as well as the names of a few more partners for the Terminal Mode initiative. Intended to smarten up your car's hardware with the phone's capabilities -- whether that be to play back music, use Ovi Maps, browse the web, or whatever else -- this was announced in partnership with Alpine yesterday, but today we're hearing that Fiat, Harman Becker and Valmet Automotive are also getting in on the fun. The gallery below shows off a mockup from Valmet, which plops your Nokia into a cradle just under the Eva concept's "on" button, and then transfers all the important stuff onto an LCD integrated into the dashboard above. Nokia tells us that each OEM will have their own particular design, so this might not be how they'll all look, but as far as ease of use goes, we don't know how you can improve much on what's being shown already. Let's just hope the software is as effective as the presentation is handsome.%Gallery-87345%
Nokia and Alpine integrating handsets into cars, bringing Ovi Maps to your dashboard
What's the one biggest hurdle to throwing out your dedicated GPS nav unit and going ahead with the free turn-by-turn navigation offered by your smartphone? If your answer was that most phones don't have the great big screens or easy installation systems of some satnav devices, look out, because Nokia's about to shake up your world all over again. Alpine has just announced its partnership with the Finnish giant aimed at integrating Nokia handsets -- complete with free Ovi Maps navigation -- into car dashboard systems. Yes, that means you can use your superb six-amp speaker system to boom out music or voice nav instructions from the phone, as well as your in-dash 7-inch LCD for showing you the right way home. There's further interaction with widgets keeping an eye on your fuel levels and engine condition, leading to location-based services such as the phone notifying you of the nearest and cheapest petrol station. Connectivity is done over either USB or Bluetooth, and Nokia promises that this Terminal Mode will be showing up in its phones in the very near future. The sooner the better, we say.
