Microsoft Keeps Hurting Windows Phone As MirrorLink Integration Likely Dropped

Windows Phone is likely to receive another big hit from none other than its creator, as Microsoft is apparently retiring from the MirrorLink partner group, leaving its mobile platform without official support.

MirrorLink is the creation of the Car Connectivity Consortium and is a standard that a number of partners, including Microsoft, are working on for bringing support for their devices to be used with in-car infotainment systems. In other words, it’s a protocol that helps connect cars and smartphones, and Microsoft is apparently giving up on the whole thing.

“The CCC is a non-profit organization of automakers, smartphone vendors and aftermarket car electronics providers who believe there should be one simple way to connect any device to any car. To that end, member companies have created MirrorLink, a standard technology for drivers to simply connect and ride,” the official website of the organization reads.

Microsoft trying to win the car industry

OnMSFT notes that Microsoft is no longer listed as a partner for this consortium on the official website, and although at first glance it could seem that the software giant is hurting its mobile platform once again, there might be a secret plan in this that would in the end still benefit Windows phone users.

Seeing Microsoft giving up on MirrorLink would be a little surprising, especially because the firm has been working hard in the last few months on bringing its products into cars.

Most recently, the company has even collaborated with various firms to bring Continuum behind the wheel, using the in-car display to connect Windows phones and thus be productive even when driving. Such an implementation comes in handy in a variety of cases, as is the case of law enforcement, who can adopt Windows phones and use them both at the desk and on the go using Continuum.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft in an attempt to find out whether the software giant is indeed giving up on MirrorLink integration for its smartphones and we’ll update the article when an answer is offered.