Mirrorlink is a standard developed by Nokia and the Car Connectivity Consortium which offers a car mode display with touch screen and console button support and a selection of phone apps designed to be safely used while driving.
Nokia headed the consortium, and the technology was supported by their Symbian handsets. The technology was briefly demonstrated on Windows Phone 8.1, but never saw the light of day.
When Microsoft purchases Nokia’s handset division the staff working on the feature came along with them, but they have subsequently left the company, and with them seemingly any hope that we would see support for this industry standard very soon.
Now in a final blow to those who were hoping to access their Windows Phone apps from their in-car console, it appears Microsoft has completely left the consortium, with its logo being removed from their website within the last 2 weeks.
Supporting the open standard for car connectivity was the last opportunity for Windows Phone users to actually get good support for their devices in their vehicle, as the market becomes increasingly saturated with the proprietary Android Auto and Apple Car Play standards.
Microsoft’s new play for a presence in the car market is their Connected Car Platform, but this involves Microsoft mainly providing the back-end and a selection of their services to car makers, and offer very little for day to day Windows Phone users.
The news is of course not really a surprise, and just the final nail for Mirrorlink and Windows Phone, but it underlines how the horizons are shrinking more and more for Windows Phone users as the OS fade away.
