Smartphone your car

In this fast moving age of smartphones and increasingly powerful gadgetry it can at times be disappointing to jump into your vehicle and be surrounded by what seems like ancient technology.   

The Car Connectivity Consortium is a group of interested industry technologists sharing the aim of producing a common set of application programming interfaces allowing smartphones to talk to in-car systems.
 
“Seven of the world’s leading auto makers and six leading brands from the handset industry have already joined the Car Connectivity Consortium,” said Mika Rytkonen, Car Connectivity Consortium President. “These are two very different industries coming together to focus on one common goal - providing an optimal user experience for accessing content while in the car.”

“Establishing cooperation between the automotive and mobile communications industries enables the best of both worlds, combining advanced smartphone applications with auto testing and certification,” said Alfred Tom, Car Connectivity Consortium Ecosystem WG Chair. “We know that 70 per cent of all new car customers want some form of connectivity. The great news is that we have the technology to allow consumers to use this connectivity safely and simply, keeping their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. The CCC will help standardise these technologies and make them widespread throughout the industry.”

The CCC has developed MirrorLink offering seamless connectivity between a smart phone and the in-vehicle infotainment system. The aim is to provide technology that is extremely simple from the consumer perspective.

MirrorLink allows a car owner to plug in his or her smartphone via USB cable and immediately enjoy all phone applications within the car.

According to the CCC: “While mobile device hosts and executes all the applications and services, accessible to the user, the car in-vehicle infotainment system will provide the necessary physical input and output capabilities, like a large coloured display, an audio speaker and microphone system, and a variety of other user input mechanisms. The latter one may include a touchable display, a rotary knob, steering wheel controls or additional physical buttons - all placed with convenient access for the driver. This will not only enable consumers to access their favourite mobile applications in a safe manner, while driving the vehicle, but also enable a user experience consistent with high-end IVI systems."

Existing communication systems such as Bluetooth are also part of the MirrorLink infrastructure, and the CCC states that whilst MirrorLink enables existing apps to be utilised in-car, the aim is to encourage development of automotive-specific applications.

Combining a MirrorLink enabled vehicle with similarly equipped smartphone could enable purchasers to avoid paying thousands of dollars for infotainment or navigation options, instead utilising easily upgradeable equivalent smartphone applications.

Mobile manufacturer Nokia has announced a series of MirrorLink enabled phones, whilst automotive in-car entertainment manufacturer Alpine has released a MirrorLink-enabled ICSS-X8.

Toyota has announced it will be first to market with Touch Life utilising MirrorLink to interface with compatible smart-devices.

“Toyota Touch Life will be available for the Toyota iQ city car towards the end of 2011 in selected markets,” states the Toyota press release.

Touch Life will be compatible with MirrorLink enabled Nokia devices: “Nokia smartphone owners can seamlessly connect their devices with Toyota Touch Life using the new industry standard connectivity protocol, MirrorLink, developed by the Car Connectivity Consortium. This represents an automotive industry world-first deployment of the protocol.”

“In addition, Nokia smartphone users can also make use of the specially developed Nokia Car Mode app which simplifies the user interface to give direct access to the device's telephony, voice guided, turn-by-turn navigation, and music player functions. This easy-to-use GUI (graphical user interface) ensures that drivers can access only the most essential and non-distracting functions on the smartphone while the car is on the move. The Nokia ‘Car Mode’ app, with MirrorLink support, can be downloaded from the Nokia Store for devices equipped with the Symbian Belle operating system. When the car is stationery, Toyota Touch Life allows drivers and passengers to access the complete functionalities of their Nokia smartphones through the in-car touchscreen display. The display supports not only point-and-touch standard touchscreen capabilities but also on-screen scrolling or swiping gestures.”
 
For Apple iPhone owners the MirrorLink API is not yet enabled, but those running iOS 4 or later can use the free "Application Launcher" app from the App Store to connect their devices with Toyota Touch Life. The "Application Launcher" app offers drivers and passengers access to various apps on the in-car display including the Garmin StreetPilot app (available for purchase from the App Store), internet radio and news apps such as AUPEO! and Stitcher, and social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter using the built-in application interface.
 

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