KPIT Cummins Blog

App is back. In this edition of the blog series, ‘App’ explains the Mirror Link Technology.

Courtesy: Steve Rhodes

Hi again, it’s me, App! I think we’ve got a good thing going here. After our talk about DLNA let’s shift focus to another upcoming feature.

It’s called Mirror Link Technology (also known as Terminal Mode). Have you heard that phrase, ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’? Not to boast, but I’m about to prove it wrong. I really am on my way to making everything digital.

Think I’m getting ahead of myself? Have a look at these examples…

Let’s say a Security Officer for the President parade uses his smart-phone to check the traffic ahead of a convoy. He can see upto a distance of 250 meters, thanks to the camera fitted in the lead car. The Security Officer is on a video-call using the leader car’s camera. Using Bluetooth to mirror his smart-phone display to the Head Unit of the car, he shares the secure view with the President who watches it on a 13 inch screen fitted behind the chauffeur’s seat.

Not bad, huh?

If that was a bit hard to relate to, consider my real-estate agent friend Neil. He has to travel to remote areas to meet prospective clients. Neil doesn’t always have Wi-Fi networks to make things easier. One day he’s on a 1-hour drive to the airport with a client. He sets up a business demo on the screen installed behind the driver’s seat, and operates the car-screen from his mobile phone using Bluetooth. So much easier than displaying it on a mobile screen, laptop, or tablet.

It’s all about using media in a Terminal Mode. With this technology you can handle and work with photographs, podcasts, videos, music, audio-books, webinars, and online classrooms. This even extends to blogs, news, tutorial simulations, presentation slideshows, and e-mails. In technical terms, a Terminal is simply a Visual Display Unit. And, specifically, it is the ever-evolving screen for cars, which will soon emerge as the true application power house. All thanks to me, of course!

Let me break it down a little more. The head unit or display screen in the car is being used as an interactive mirror for another device. When I say mirror, I mean that it will act as a twin-display unit of a device such as your smart-phone. The processor of the car’s infotainment system is utilized by the Terminal Mode Client as a resource, along with the car’s own speakers, screen, and microphone.

Think about it - smartphones are changing the way we work. People use smart-phones for business 77% of the time. Compare that to 22% for office desk phone usage and just 1% for home based phones.

Right now you’re familiar with using your car’s speakers via Bluetooth to play the songs in your smart-phone. That same convenience continues, but with an additional improvement – now it is not just the car-speakers, but the display unit too!

I think that’s enough for today. I’ve given you plenty to look forward to, and there’s still more to share. What if we turned it all around? Next time I’ll let you know about Reverse Mirror Link…
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**This blog series is written by Johnson John along with technical inputs by Manish Narang from KPIT Cummins.**