MirrorLink in 2013 – Beyond Screen Replication

Many of us immediately embrace the screen replication element of MirrorLink™. Mirroring makes the smartphone’s user interface (UI) available to the driver via the in-vehicle infotainment system (IVI). This includes not only the visual display, but audio and UI controls as well. With applications and services remaining on the smartphone, in full control of its user interface layout and behavior, this describes a major shift in how the car’s IVI connects to smartphones: MirrorLink turns the current relationship upside down by allowing the smartphone to treat the car as an accessory. An expensive accessory, though. :)

But beyond the screen replication element, MirrorLink needs to contain additional functionality that optimizes smartphone apps for use while driving and that adheres to regulation around driver distraction. This is part of the technological framework the CCC provides developers when they create MirrorLink-enabled applications. In this manner, the IVI immediately recognizes compliant applications and makes them available on the dashboard for the driver to use. It’s this very compliance that opens tremendous opportunities for new applications as well as for innovation around automotive optimized user interfaces. Innovation within MirrorLink is not limited or complicated by restrictive vehicle APIs or closed IVI environments.

Seeing more and more MirrorLink-enabled smartphones and vehicle infotainment systems reaching consumers only inspires us to continue developing and enhancing MirrorLink’s core features. As we are currently rolling out support for third-party applications, interested developers will see more and more information around tools and guidelines. Also, MirrorLink’s technical development is moving forward. In particular we will ensure that users can enjoy the same kind of experience they are used to on their smartphones, a promise at the heart of MirrorLink™ from the beginning. For example, this involves enhancing the rate at which MirrorLink™ can remote the user interface. Also, support for Wi-Fi Miracast™ will enhance the user experience via the convenience of a wireless in-vehicle connection protocol. Enabling Web technologies and further developing access to car data will give app developers even more tools to innovate and differentiate.

So stay tuned for all the new things coming. I am personally very excited and looking forward to see MirrorLink take big steps in 2013.

Jörg Brakensiek, CCC Technical Work Group Chair

Viva Car Connectivity!

A couple weeks ago I traveled to Las Vegas on behalf of the CCC to join all the excitement surrounding the Consumer Telematics Show. Sponsored by Telematics Update, the event took place alongside the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show. And I have to say I am very encouraged to see just how vital car connectivity has become to the at-large consumer electronics discussion.

First off, I spent a day meeting with various automotive, technology and consumer electronics journalists to talk about MirrorLink news – namely that we’re about to open MirrorLink to the world’s app developers. It’s always amazing to see how quickly people understand the value of an interoperable car connectivity standard. We witnessed these reactions when we started formally introducing MirrorLink to the world two years ago and they continue to happen today. Not only did everyone I spoke to at CTS immediately recognize the importance of having smartphone apps with drive mode, they were genuinely excited about it and look forward to the day when they can use the technology themselves.

In a larger sense, all of the topics on the table at the event deeply resonated with the CCC’s core mission: app development, interoperability, mobile and automotive industry convergence, collaboration with regulatory bodies, cloud content delivery to the dashboard and beyond. I was also really excited to see that many of the event’s speakers hailed from CCC member companies, including Daimler, Ford, Honda and Toyota.

Over at CES, the connected car pavilion was one of the most popular destinations for attendees. Cadillac, Chevy, Ford, Hyundai, Kia and others put their latest connected infotainment platforms on display. It’s also worth pointing out that Verizon and Mercedes jointly demonstrated their mbrace™ dashboard technology, signaling greater collaboration between the mobile and automotive industries and really championing the kind of cooperation the CCC seeks to instill in the connected car ecosystem. In addition, CCC member companies JVC and Alpine used the event as a platform to announce three new MirrorLink-enabled head units: the Alpine ICS-X7HD and JVC’s KW-NSX600 and KW-NSX700.

Finally, on the last day of CES I was able to give a full technical presentation of MirrorLink for engineers at an IEEE tutorial. As chair of the CCC’s Technical Workgroup, I always welcome the chance to speak in depth about our technology. Again, it was wonderful to witness such widespread support for MirrorLink and its core competencies.

By the end of the week, I felt completely reenergized about the state of car connectivity on today’s roads. I’m excited to see so many of our member companies well on their way to full MirrorLink deployments and I’m thrilled to see such an engaged press core and members of the public who are so eager to find greater levels of seamlessness between their cars and smartphones.

As the CCC gears up for major activities at Mobile World Congress – including a formal booth (located at 8.1J21) and a full MirrorLink DevCon (February 26, Hall 8.0, Theatre C) – it is my genuine hope that 2013 goes down as the year MirrorLink becomes a household name. If you’re planning to be in Barcelona, please stop by and say hello!

Jörg Brakensiek

Post LA Auto Show

I just got back from the LA Auto Show and I am feeling very encouraged about the response received by MirrorLink and the Car Connectivity Consortium while there. In the two days dedicated to press activities, I gave over 25 interviews about and demonstrations of MirrorLink with the Sony XAV-701HD and my personal Nokia N9. It turns out that my regular use of MirrorLink in my personal vehicle – our trusty Toyota Highlander (known to the family as “McDuff”) – is paying off by helping my demo skills. It’s a lot easier to present something that I use and enjoy all the time in my own car. As the interviews begin to make their way into various publications, we’ll link to them on the http://www.mirrorlink.com website as well as to the Car Connectivity Consortium Facebook page.

There was also interest from attendee representatives from some of our member companies. Many of these folks hadn’t had a chance to see MirrorLink in person and it was gratifying to see them nod in appreciation and understanding as I ran through the demo. The universal opinion was one of “this just makes sense”. This seemed to be the case for everyone that saw a demo – and I must say that I have to agree.

While I didn’t have as much time to walk around and check out all the cool cars, I did make a few quick tours of the exhibit spaces. Looking at them brought back some great memories. One of my earliest recollections includes walking around new car dealerships with my Dad and looking at the cars. I think it was the new car smell – that mixture of rubber, paint, leather, and machined metal – that conjured up those thoughts.

Looking at the cars also gave me a chance to think about what MirrorLink is all about. I know that developing a technology to connect smartphones to vehicles doesn’t compare to the engineering, art and skill that goes into designing a complete car or truck, but it does offer some real satisfaction to those of us working in the CCC. If we do our jobs right in bringing this technology to the consumer – we’ll be helping drivers in some really significant ways.

The first thing MirrorLink will do is help those drivers keep more of their attention on the road. We know that people will use their phones in their cars – it’s a simple fact. When done improperly, it can be ill advised, irresponsible, and even illegal. If we create a way for people to drive and use their phones in a less distracting way the result is a clear win for everyone.

Secondly, the MirrorLink approach is great for simplifying the market. We’re doing something that is not specific to any model of car or phone. As this technology is deployed by a critical mass of phone and vehicle vendors the result is a much simpler connectivity environment for the consumer. In my walk around the show floor I noticed a remarkable number of proprietary technologies that work with some handsets, some car makes or even just some car models. The landscape the proprietary solutions create is completely frustrating for the consumer. Imagine a world with ten, twenty or more competing ways to wirelessly connect computers to the internet, it would be chaos!

As my time at the LA Auto Show was wrapping up I took a moment to look forward. It’s just three short months until Mobile World Congress in Barcelona where we will have our next major presence. Between now and then the CCC will continue with the huge effort to create a way for application developers to build and certify their apps for deployment in the MirrorLink world. While the work is challenging, the team behind the scenes is dedicated, talented and more than up for it. We know that when we succeed, we will change the way people use their smartphones in cars.

Alan Ewing

Car Connectivity Consortium’s Summit – Interest is Strong

As many of you know, the CCC held its Summit Event in Tokyo last week. I was particularly gratified by the great turnout for the event. We had a number of challenges in completing the event planning and the fact that all the pieces of the puzzle came together was a testament to the dedication of the individuals who worked so hard in the last six weeks!

There are so many things that events like the Summit strive to accomplish. Obviously, the main objective is to formally communicate with those interested in the subject the various aspects of the technology and how it fits into a larger market. We also had meetings scheduled for the various CCC Working Groups. Our exhibition area was completely booked with companies demonstrating their products and solutions for MirrorLink. Lastly and maybe most significantly, was the opportunity for all the participants to come together, meet and engage in informal conversations about MirrorLink, CCC and the general subject of automotive connectivity.

In the case of formal communication all of our presenters did a great job in hitting the mark. Jack Bergquist of IHS provided an outstanding keynote address regarding the keys to providing successful connected services in the automobile environment. It’s astonishing to realize that in North America and Western Europe connectivity will be a part of over 75% of vehicles within 7 years. The session presenters also provided outstanding insights into different facets of the evolving connected car ecosystem. We know that people want to use their smartphones in their cars and something must be done to limit distractions for people while driving. CCC looks poised and able to help with addressing this problem!

There were three sessions where some interesting insights were provided. In the first session we heard about the EU’s view on telematics and the need for global standardization, the automotive industry’s take on how MirrorLink can lead the effort to integrate smart-phone use in the vehicle and how the GENIVI Alliance and CCC can work together to bring connectivity solutions to the public. The second session focused on making MirrorLink a reality. Presenters gave the summit participants a inside look at how the requirements for application certification are being developed, an overview of the technical requirements for MirrorLink 1.1 and guidance on the processes that will be used to certify apps. The final session was about building the ecosystem. The message here is clear – we must make the ecosystem accessible for app developers while maintaining a robust certification system. If we make the business case unattractive, the market will never have a chance to develop. Supporting this notion were discussions of the common API.

Two other areas of interest were the Working Group meetings and our exhibition area. The Working Groups met for two days in a total of four sessions. These discussions for our Core and Charter members were focused on the definition of criteria, system specifications and certification processes. The exhibition area proved to be a great success with over 12 companies presenting various MirrorLink end products, components and software elements. The demo area was open for 8 hours during the summit. The foot traffic at the booths was remarkable and there were few lulls in the activity – even during lunch. The press was also well represented at the event and took the opportunity to ask questions from the CCC’s President.

Another accomplishment of our Summit was the opportunity for members to meet and discuss their common interest in MirrorLink in a less formal setting. There were two different social events during our week. The first hosted by Toyota and Honda was for the Working Groups. The second hosted by CCC was open to all those who registered for the Summit. In each case the small discussions were numerous and undoubtedly very valuable for their participants.

The Summit had one small surprise in the form of special recognition for one of our members. Much of the heavy lifting of coordinating the discussions of how Application Certification will work has gone through one individual – Yoshi Kakihara of Sony Corporation. I have been very pleased to work with Yoshi over the last year on this important topic. It was universally recommended by the Working Group chairpersons that we show our appreciation in a public manner. Congratulations to Yoshi for his contribution to CCC and I’m sure I speak for all members of CCC that we will continue to enjoy our work with him.

Unfortunately, there is no time to enjoy the completion of a successful event. We are already planning future events, especially our presence at the LA Auto Show, the Consumer Electronics Show and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. All of these events will give the CCC an opportunity to give the latest news on our progress in bringing a less distracted driving experience to the roads.

Alan Ewing

MirrorLink

We are proud to announce our trademark! Read the full press release here!

Getting Certification Started

Hi, I’m Alan Ewing, Chairman of the CCC’s Certification Working Group.  I, like Mika, work for Nokia and have been with them for almost exactly 13 years, and have been representing the company in various Industry Associations and Consortiums.  My work in the Car Connectivity Consortium promises to be particularly exciting, as it gives me a chance to bring much of the collected experience from my previous work to the MirrorLink Certification efforts.

As summer ramps down, I look back at just how much we have accomplished in preparing for Certification in the CCC.  Some of the key activities over the last several months include the approval of the Certification Program Management Document, or PMD for short.  This document, available to members, is the guideline for how the Certification Program operates and provides instructions on how to certify products.  Another key element for the program has been to identify and authorize third party test labs to perform testing for the membership.  I’m excited to say that we have had an overwhelming response from test labs all over the world to our inquiries.   We have provided training to the candidate labs on the technology and the test tools and hope to be able to start announcing our list of Authorized Test Labs in the near future.  The candidate test labs are from all three major geographical regions which will provide more convenient support for our members’ certification needs.

Another key milestone that has been achieved in the Certification Program planning and development is the deployment of the Conformance Test System (CTS) developed by jambit in Munich.  The CTS allows testing of clients and servers against the Terminal Mode specifications.  It also supports interoperability testing by providing scripts for checking functionality between servers and clients.  The CTS will continue to be developed to support future releases of the Terminal Mode specification.

A key item I have taken from my work in product certification efforts over the years is the need for an unbiased, 3rd party to make decisions regarding granting and maintaining certified status for products.  Almost every product certification program out there has this function covered in some form or fashion.  One of the best ways that I have observed is the creation of a “referee” role using an outside, technically competent person.  The CCC has created such a role known as a Certification Body.  This person is an outside contractor with no direct ties to any of the member companies.  Our Certification Body will be present at member’s meetings so make sure to introduce yourself and say “hello”.

All of the ground work paid off last week with our initial “Test Event” in Munich, Germany.  Vendors of both server and client implementations came together for conformance and interoperability testing.  The event was wildly successful and points to a bright future for MirrorLink and the Terminal Mode technology.  Thanks to all who participated and helped make the test event a great launching point for our Certification Program.

It’s been an exciting summer for the CCC Certification Program planning and preparation.  While there have been many challenges, I’m very excited about the foundation we have prepared for MirrorLink in the CCC.  I’d like to encourage member companies to join us in the Certification Working Group and to help make our Certification Program an example of the best our industry has to offer!

Best Regards,
Alan Ewing – Chairman, Certification Working Group
Car Connectivity Consortium

News update

Press Release: Car Connectivity Consortium Drives Smartphone In-Vehicle Infotainment Adoption with MirrorLink Open Standard Solution

FRANKFURT, Germany – September 12, 2011 – The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC), an organization driving global innovation for phone-centric car connectivity solutions, today announced the launch of its MirrorLink™ trademark. MirrorLink offers global solutions for connecting mobile devices to in-vehicle infotainment systems, allowing unprecedented functionality through two-way links between smartphones and in-vehicle displays.

Read more here…

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Hi from Mika

Before discussing the topic at hand, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Mika Rytkönen and I work for Nokia.  I’m a middle-aged Finnish male (in Japan “Mika” is a female name), 192 cm tall, and admittedly overweight despite being on a diet for the past ten years. I have absolutely no sense of humor, but I am often found wearing glasses and playing Angry Birds or other mobile games on my Nokia E7. Finally, I am married to a lawyer, a father of three daughters, and a semi-good golfer. Life is good!

I was appointed to be President and Chairman of the Car Connectivity Consortium for 2011. How I ended up in this role is a rather long story, but let me try to give as short an answer as possible. Nokia developed the Terminal Mode specification 1.0 with the CE4A (www.ce4a.org). In 2010 we discussed how to develop Terminal Mode further. We realized that we needed more international adoption, and this could not be realized solely with Nokia and the CE4A. During a meeting on the 8th of September 2010, Nokia and CE4A agreed to establish a new consortium. We also agreed that Nokia will take a leadership role in the effort. Soon after, I started to run, or literally, fly.

Before February 28th, 2011, when the consortium was founded, I participated in several meetings around the world, met many companies and interesting people, and accumulated a lot of air miles. I worked on consortium agenda, discussed nice legal issues like By-laws, IPR policy, anti-trust policy, and more. It was a challenging and by no means trivial task.

One by one other companies decided to share the common goal and finally the Car Connectivity Consortium was established. Many other companies have since joined, including HTC, Sony Corporation, PSA and jambit. Today, we have 19 member companies from three continents representing the whole value chain. We are still open for new applications.

As I said earlier, I am now serving as President and Chairman of the Car Connectivity Consortium. The Board has made several other nominations- Jörg Brakensiek (Nokia) leads the Technical Work Group, Alan Ewing (Nokia) is chairing the Certification Work Group, Alfred Tom (GM) is leading Ecosystem Work Group, Robert Hrabak (GM) is serving as the Secretary of the consortium, and Reinmar Mück (Alpine) is our CFO. All positions are for one year.

Looking back on the last six months, it is amazing how much we have achieved together. Workgroups are operational, Terminal Mode spec 1.0.1 was approved, a roadmap was created, the next Terminal Mode Summit is scheduled for the 29th of September, a financial services company was selected, the collaboration tool is in place, operational guidelines have been approved, and so on.

Looking to the future, it is awesome to think that this year the first Terminal Mode products will enter the market. Soon Terminal Mode will be in hands of consumers. And what they will get? A seamless, effortless, and delightful user experience when using a Smartphone in a car. Fantastic!

This is a lot more than I could imagine when taking off from Münich airport on the evening of the 8th of September, 2010.

Mika Rytkönen 

President, Car Connectivity Consortium

Director, Markets Compatibility Programs

CTO office,  Nokia Corporation

mika.rytkonen(at)nokia.com

NEW PROTOTYPE KIT SOFTWARE RELEASED

The Terminal Mode Prototype Kit is available via the Forum Nokia Terminal Mode Developer Program now for almost 4 months. I am thrilled how many of our partners used it to get early access to Terminal Mode technology. For those readers, who want to know more about the Terminal Mode prototype kit, I encourage you to visit http://www.terminalmode.org/ for more information.

Since the launch of the Terminal Mode development program, we received a lot of input from our partners, which we have tried to incorporate into a new 1.1 software release. Therefore, I am very happy to announce today that Release 1.1 of the Terminal Mode Prototype Kit software is out and available for you to use.
 
Let me explain in the following, what we have changed and how we want to proceed for here.

We have put a couple of enhancements and optimization into this new version of the Terminal Mode server, running on the N97 mini, which we hope you will find helpful:

–          Increased the performance of the VNC server, to provide better user experience, by either increasing the achievable frame rate, or providing the same frame rate and lower CPU load, i.e. leaving more CPU power to the application.

–          Advertise the VNC server as an individual application giving the head-unit direct access to the mobile device’s screen, independent of the launch of any particular application.

–          Added M-search support to the UPnP server to allow for faster service discovery. The UPnP control point does not need to wait for the server’s advertisement in order to discover Terminal Mode services, but instead can directly search for them through multi-cast.

–          Randomized generation of the device UUIDs, allowing multiple Terminal Mode enabled devices, being uniquely distinguishable based on the UUID.

–          Added UPnP eventing support (GENA), allowing the Terminal Mode client to follow any change of the evented variables.

In addition the software update includes fixes to a couple of known bugs.

–          The encoding of the number-of-runs in a given framebuffer line has been corrected to network endianess.

–          Context information is provided at the beginning of a framebuffer update message. This gives the head-unit the opportunity to skip incoming framebuffer content, prior putting it to the framebuffer.

–          Correction of XML schemes

–          Increased stability

The new Terminal Mode server software version 1.1 is available from Forum Nokia’s webpage at https://www.forum.nokia.com/Developer_Programs/Terminal_Mode/.

The changes to the Terminal Mode client have been more fundamental. The entire code has been refactored considerably.  The objective was to clearly keep the core Terminal Mode client functionality within a separate library, independent of main application, running the User Interface logic.

The newly implemented QTmClient class gives the main application full access to the Terminal Mode client functionality. The API allows one or more UPnP control point and one or more VNC client connection operating simultaneous. In addition the library supports auto-detection of connection and disconnection of multiple mobile devices. The library will signal the appearance of any new remote server device and any new advertised application.

First documentation of the new library API is available within the provided code base. HTML based documentation can be easily created from the library’s directory using “qdoc3 QTmClient.qdocconf”. The HTML files are then available in ./doc/html. You will find qdoc3 in the qt/bin directory of your Qt SDK installation.

The main application provides example code how to use the new library code. From version 1.1 onwards, we intend to keep the main API of the Terminal Mode client library stable as much as possible, only adding new functionality. This will ensure that any further development will not interfere with any implementation of the main application. Internal APIs may change in the future though.

The entire new Qt Terminal Mode client library software version 1.1 and the example main application are available publically from the Qt GIT repository at http://www.qt.gitorious.org/qt-for-ivi. Please note that this version will not work with any older version of the Terminal Mode server. Please update the Terminal Mode VNC and UPnP servers to the latest available versions.

We have done a lot testing and tried hard to get the software as stable as possible. Despite all our efforts, there are a couple of known issues though, as listed in the Terminal Mode User Guide. Luckily none of them are critical.

And last but not least, I would like to thank everybody who has helped making this updated release possible, specifically to all the external feedback and contributions we have received. We will continue to improve the software. I am really looking forward to your feedback and comments. Stay tuned.

Jörg Brakensiek

Research Leader, Terminal Mode Chief Architect

Nokia Research Center Palo Alto

jorg.brakensiek@nokia.com

Making driving even more enjoyable with Terminal Mode

I think it is ever little boy’s dream to feel like a race driver when you own your first bicycle. I remember all of my bikes and I remember all of my cars. But one of the most proud moments was not so much that new bike or that new car, it was the improvements I made myself to make the bicycle faster, look better or feel more ‘grown-up’. Two very distinct improvements I will always remember:

Lookalike gearshift: you take an old car mirror (the old nice ones, made from chrome, not plastic), you remove the mirror itself and then tape the base to your horizontal bar of your bike. Now you can move the base from left to right to act as a gearshift. All my bikes had one of those…

Eco Exhaust: Get 2 ft of plastic PVC electrical pipe . Close one side and mount it horizontally beside your rear wheel. Put sand in it and start cycling. The sand will slowly come out, as if it was your exhaust pipe. Very eco friendly, but bad mileage.

Terminal Mode for me is just like these good memories but then on Turbo Scale. It is combining the best of both worlds. Your favorite personal device with your favorite services in your favourite car. And no fumbling around with headsets or small buttons. No. It gets perfectly displayed on my nice car display and I can listen to my car audio and use my car controls to operate the phone. Best of both worlds.

And then. What’s next. Of course with the Smartphone in the car, a world of opportunities opens for Car Manufacturers and Dealerships to stay connected to their customers, for Developers for make new relevant applications to make driving an even more pleasant experience, for Fleet Owners to stay connected to their Workforce, for Entrepreneurs to offer new car sharing ownership business models, and for Consumers to enjoy it.

Together with many partners from the Automotive Industry, Nokia is actively making the marriage of the Smartphone and the Car a reality and making driving an even more enjoyable experience.

Floris van de Klashorst

Head of Nokia Automotive