MHL keen to partner with Indian firms

BANGALORE: As consumption of Smartphones and phone owners upgrading to Smartphones rise rapidly in the country, US based Mobile High- Definition Link (MHL) has said it is keen to establish MHL technology for mobile devices and work closely with Indian firms.

MHL, a consortium promoted by Nokia, Samsung, Silicon Image, SONY and Toshiba, is also keen to work closely with the content providers and local mobile device manufacturers, among others, its senior executive said.

MHL is known as de facto standard of choice for audio/ video connectivity.

On a visit here to promote awareness of MHL Connectivity standards, Michael Bergen, Senior Partner Alliance Manager at MHL consortium, said one of the exciting things that could be done with MHL technology was that a smart phone could be turned into a media player.

The MHL Consortium feels Indian market is inspiring for MHL as it had a mobile device penetration of 73 per cent with a huge number of feature phone makers upgrading to smart phones.

"In 2012 we saw significant adaption of MHL featured phones and smart phones, we expect the year 2013 will be the year of MHL enabled Televisions," Bergen said.

One area that is beginning to embrace the technology is the automotive sector, with some manufacturers viewing MHL as a compelling solution to integrate the phone into the car infotainment experience.

As part of its strategy in India, MHL Consortium is keen to work with Indian companies in developing new programmes and contents for devices, a release quoted him to say here.

"We are here to introduce the benefits of MHL ...and also build partnership with established mobile device manufacturers, third party developers and game publishers in India," Bergen said.

MHL, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Image, Inc.