LONG BEACH, CALIF. –
JVC Mobile will ship its
first MirrorLink-compatible in-dash head unit in late
August and will work with Samsung to promote the
product’s compatibility with Samsung’s flagship
Galaxy S III smartphone.
JVC’s double-DIN KS-NSX1 A/V receiver, which
features a 6.1-inch touchscreen, is priced at a tentative
everyday $599, making it the company’s topend
A/V receiver, said Chad Vogelsong, JVC Mobile’s
marketing GM. JVC will expand its selection of
MirrorLink-enabled head units next year, he added.
JVC’s KS-NSX1 will join a pair of MirrorLink-enabled
A/V receivers introduced by Sony at International
CES. One is shipping, and the other will ship
Sept. 1, Sony said.
Alpine plans to launch its first U.S.-market Mirror-
Link head unit sometime later this year, the company
said.
In launching the 4G Galaxy S III, Samsung Telecommunications
America is executing its largest
promotion campaign ever for a phone. The S III,
which is being marketed by six carriers, is seen by
analysts as a strong rival to Apple’s iPhone.
MirrorLink is the industry-standardized technology
that enables aftermarket and OEM head units
to control the functions and apps of MirrorLink-compatible
smartphones, mirror the phones’ user interface
on an in-dash touchscreen, and stream content
from the phone and from Internet-connected phone
apps. With MirrorLink, consumers use the head
unit’s touchscreen to control smartphone apps and
functions in the same way that they use the smartphone’s
touchscreen to control apps and functions.
MirrorLink was developed to enable interoperability
between OEM and aftermarket car infotainment
systems and smartphones made by different manufacturers
and running different operating systems,
according to the Car Connectivity Consortium.
When JVC’s MirrorLink-compatible head unit hits
the market, it will connect to compatible phones
based on Nokia’s Symbian operating system as well
as to Samsung’s S III. In both cases, the phones
must run a MirrorLink app available from their respective
smartphone suppliers, said Vogelsong.
Samsung’s app for the S III, called Drive Link, is
still under development. Vogelsong wasn’t certain
whether other Samsung smartphones could be upgraded
to add MirrorLink. A Samsung spokesperson
was unavailable.
