Clarion Mirage Brings Android to Your Dash

While there are nice mounts for tablets should you wish to use your slates for GPS navigation or as a portable music and Internet radio for your car trips, Clarion is hoping to create a more integrated solution with its Mirage in-dash solution. At this time, the Mirage is targeted as a native in-dash solution that brings the power of Google’s Android operating system to your car. The unit provides users with a 6.5-inch display with an unknown resolution and the Mirage is powered by Android 2.2 Froyo complete with USB port, Bluetooth connectivity, and an SD card slot. What’s missing is a CD player on the unit.

The unit also has built-in GPS and radio capabilities and users can either connect their Android or iOS devices to the the USB port to play music or stream via Bluetooth. From the screenshot above, it looks like third-party Navigon GPS app is pre-loaded. The Mirage will operate like a double-DIN unit.

The Mirage, however, is not available for consumer purchase as an after-market solution at this time and is targeted at auto manufacturers to offer as a native and customizable solution for their vehicle fleets. When car-makers add the Mirage to their cars’ dashes, they can add in vehicle information, reverse cameras, steering wheel controls, DVD player functionality, and other customizations to meet their needs.

Along with the standard capabilities, users will also be able to update Facebook and play Angry Birds as well. Hopefully, car-makers and/or Clarion will add some controls to help preven distracted driving, especially since it’d be like operating your phone on a 6.5-inch in-dash display.

Via: Android Police