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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Nokia Car Mode drives fusion of cars with smartphone services

Increased industry momentum for MirrorLink within Car Connectivity Consortium
Frankfurt, Germany - Today at the IAA (Internationale Automobil Ausstellung), Nokia announced Nokia Car Mode, a standalone application optimized for the in-car use of Nokia smartphones. Nokia Car Mode features an optimized user interface simplifying the access and use of Nokia Drive (voice-guided car navigation with Nokia Maps), traffic updates, music and voice calls while driving. Nokia Car Mode, built with Qt, will be available for download from Nokia's Ovi Store in Q4 2011 for Nokia smartphones based on Symbian Belle - such as the recently launched Nokia 600, Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 - as well as the Nokia N9.

Nokia Car Mode is the first commercially available solution supporting MirrorLink, formerly known as Terminal Mode. MirrorLink is a standard smartphone-to-car connectivity platform driven by over 20 major global brands from across different industries within the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC). With MirrorLink, smartphones can be connected to in-car displays, car controls systems, and car audio systems. Thus consumers can control their smartphones via the car dashboard, as if the device and its apps were integrated into the car itself.

MirrorLink is increasingly gaining industry momentum. Among the first commercially available products presented at IAA besides Nokia Car Mode is Alpine's new ICS-X8, a dashboard-mounted unit that lets drivers of supported cars retrofit MirrorLink capabilities and Bluetooth hands-free phone. After connecting their Nokia smartphone with the Alpine ICS-X8, consumers are able to intuitively and safely use smartphone applications from the ICS-X8's large 7-inch high-resolution display.

As a founding member of the Car Connectivity Consortium, Nokia is striving to introduce mobile innovation to the automotive industry. The integration of smartphones and their capabilities into cars is playing an important part in Nokia's Location & Commerce business strategy, extending the existing ecosystem and thus providing benefits and opportunities for consumers, automotive companies, application developers and advertisers alike.

"MirrorLink and Nokia Car Mode are a big leap forward in allowing car drivers to access their favourite smartphone services," said Floris van de Klashorst, Director Automotive Services of Nokia's Location & Commerce business. "Via MirrorLink users have comfortable and safe access to maps, music and telephony on their phones when they're in their cars even while driving. In the future, MirrorLink will enable plenty of other popular features since we're only at the beginning of what we can do by linking smart devices with vehicles. We expect developers to come up with innovative new applications optimised for use in cars."

"As a member of the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC), we are very excited to introduce the world's first in-car infotainment solution based on MirrorLink - the all new ICS-X8 App Link Station," said Ingmar Heck, Manager of Sales and Marketing, Alpine Electronics Europe. "The ICS-X8 featuring MirrorLink allows users to create a digital ecosystem of mobile applications and the vehicle's infotainment system. Users that own a compatible Nokia smartphone can connect it to the ICS-X8 and navigate using Nokia Drive, as well as enjoy all their music stored on the phone while driving using Nokia Music. Nokia Drive even connects to the car's GPS receiver, allowing accurate navigation in areas of weak signal strength."

"Safe and seamless access to web-apps via an integrated smartphone is critical in accelerating the evolution of the connected vehicle," said Thilo Koslowski, VP and Automotive Practice Leader at Gartner. "A standardized smartphone-to-vehicle integration solution allows automotive companies to simplify their connected vehicle offerings and focus resources on extending consumers' connected lifestyles to the vehicle."

The Alpine ICS-X8 will be available in November at Alpine authorized dealers. Please visit www.alpine-europe.com to locate a retailer.

Demonstrations of the world's first in-car infotainment solution based on MirrorLink from Nokia and Alpine can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdHBFsy930A

About Nokia
Nokia is committed to connecting people to what matters to them by combining advanced mobile technology with personalized services. More than 1.3 billion people connect to one another with a Nokia, from our most affordable voice-optimized mobile phones to advanced Internet-connected smartphones sold in virtually every market in the world. Through our services, people also enjoy access to maps and navigation on mobile, a rapidly expanding applications store, a growing catalog of digital music, and more. Nokia's NAVTEQ is a leader in comprehensive digital mapping and navigation services, and Nokia Siemens Networks is one of the leading providers of telecommunications infrastructure hardware, software and professional services globally.

About Car Connectivity Consortium
The Car Connectivity Consortium is dedicated to cross-industry collaboration in developing global standards and solutions for smartphone and in-vehicle connectivity. Car Connectivity Consortium members are among the world's leading automotive, mobile communications and consumer electronics industry companies including Alpine, BT Software and Research, Clarion Co. Ltd., Daimler, Delphi, Denso, Garmin International, General Motors, Honda R&D Co, Ltd., HTC, Hyundai Motor Company, Ixonos, J & K Car Electronics Corp., jambit GmbH, KDDI Corporation, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Motorola Mobility, Nokia, Panasonic, PSA Automotive, Samsung, Sony Corporation, Sony Ericsson AB, RealVNC Limited, Renesas Electronics Corporation, Toyota and Volkswagen. The Car Connectivity Consortium is open for any industry member to join. For further information, please visit www.carconnectivity.org

MirrorLink is the recently announced commercial trademark for the technology previously known as Terminal Mode and owned by the Car Connectivity Consortium who are responsible for the development of the specification, certification and branding of MirrorLink type of smartphone to vehicle integration.

About Alpine Electronics
Alpine Electronics is an automotive electronics manufacturer that supports drivers in over 60 countries and provides the world's leading auto makers with audio, video, navigation and driver assistance products. The company specializes in system integration solutions with innovative vehicle entertainment and information technologies. Alpine's R&D and manufacturing facilities in Japan, China, Europe and North America ensure that all products address the real world requirement of drivers in each market. The company is committed to developing products that are safe, easy to use, and eco-friendly for the automotive environment.

For more information about Alpine Electronics, visit www.alpine.com. For more information about Alpine's aftermarket product, visit www.alpine-europe.com.

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