<div>Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) enables you to hook up a mobile phone to a large display, say an LED TV, via a simple adapter. Sounds fun, but in a world where technology is going wireless and where media streaming can be done without tangling into cables, why would one use MHL? Vipin Sawhney Country Manager, Silicon Image, explains to Kunal Khullar why MHL provides the best user experience.<br /><br /><strong>Do you see a rise in the adoption of MHL ever since the technology first arrived?</strong><br />When MHL released its first specification in 2011, it started with a simple idea of connecting a phone to a TV. Since then, MHL’s product ecosystem has grown to more than 750 million products and the use cases continue to expand. Consumers want more out of their smartphones — taking them beyond communication devices and transforming them into gaming consoles, powerful PCs and entertainment systems. The ability to connect a smartphone or tablet to the big screen to display photos and videos, play games or use productivity applications is a compelling value proposition.<br /><br />In India, specifically, many of the leading mobile phones are MHL-enabled, including the Galaxy S5, the entire Xperia line, and the recently announced HTC One M9+. In addition, leading TV brands such as Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and LG have MHL technology inside.<br /><br /><strong>What are the ways in which you can use MHL?</strong><br />• Play — Watch HD and 4K videos and photos from your phone on a TV. Stop, rewind, pause and play the content using the TV’s remote control. <br />• Gaming – Pair a game controller to your MHL smartphone or tablet to play mobile games on a TV or monitor with no lag. <br />• Work – Turn your mobile device into a PC by connecting to a very low-cost, laptop-like peripheral and work from anywhere. <br />• Connected Car — Connect your phone to an infotainment unit to access GPS, music and other apps. <br />• USB Type-C — Connect tomorrow’s phones with USB Type-C to today’s ecosystem of MHL TVs, monitors, AVRs and more.<br /><br /><strong><img width="257" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="212" align="right" alt="" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=6e8446ce-2f2b-4ae7-a7c0-d0c8b2336ac6&groupId=520986&t=1433845129621" />Are there any major brands/organisations that rely on MHL for everyday productivity? </strong><br />MHL is ideal for a number of productivity use cases. Dock a smartphone or tablet and then connect a keyboard, mouse and monitor to transform it into a powerful PC. Connect a mobile device to a laptop shell but have all of the processing power come from the device itself. With MHL, you can write emails, browse the Web and create presentations at any time, from any location. The possibilities are endless. MHL’s productivity play is also stronger through its support of USB Type-C, which is ideal for laptops, monitors and docks.<br /><br />To support this productivity vision, MHL is working with companies such as Andromium. While MHL is technology that allows you to connect your smartphone to a TV, monitor or smartbook, Andromium is a custom OS that is specially designed to provide a keyboard/mouse optimised, multi-window/multitasking desktop environment that will help users unlock the true power of their smartphone.<br /> <br />Why should anyone use MHL when there are wireless options like screen casting and mirroring?<br />Wireless is convenient, but you’re losing charge the entire time. MHL is focused on being wired because when connected the sink will power the source device. A wired connection also provides the best user experience—there are no compromises in video quality and no lag. <br /><br />MHL does co-exist with other wireless technologies such as WirelessHD as we believe there are certain applications that are more suitable for a wired connection, while other applications may call for a wireless connection. A good example of this is wired Ethernet vs. wireless on PCs.<br /><br /><strong>What do you think will be the future of MHL and what kind of innovative applications can we look forward to?</strong><br />Nokia, Samsung, Silicon Image (a Lattice Semiconductor Company), Sony, and Toshiba are promoters of the MHL Consortium and leaders in the mobile and CE space. The goal of each released specification is to deliver a set of innovative features that enable companies to stay ahead of the industry curve and forecast the needs of consumers. The MHL Consortium has adopters that create a large and diverse product ecosystem that includes smartphones, tablets, TVs, monitors, automobile infotainment systems, AVRs, Blu-ray disc players, set-top boxes (STBs) and more. <br /><br />At CES 2015, the MHL Consortium announced superMHL, its latest technology specification. For mobile, it delivers higher resolution, faster frame rates, support for the USB Type-C connector and 40W of power charging, while expanding capabilities for tomorrow’s living room through 8K video at 120 frames per second, a consumer friendly superMHL connector and picture enhancement features. Consumers will be able to connect their mobile devices, set-top boxes, Blu-ray disc players, AVRs, streaming media sticks and other source devices to TVs and monitors. It will be exciting to see the different type of superMHL products that will be released down the road. <br /><br />(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 29-06-2015)</div>
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