Sony outlined a grand future of smartphone-aware MirrorLink AV units back at CES, and the first example of the in-car media system is shipping right in line with the spring target.
Although it's the more modest of the two we saw back in Las Vegas, the XAV-601BT aims to be the heart of anything mobile attached to your car with a 6.1-inch touchscreen and two USB ports to take advantage of your phone's music, navigation and other apps in a custom interface while another device charges on the side.
Just don't expect Sony's stake in Android to have much bearing: at first, only more recent Symbian phones will have "guaranteed" MirrorLink support at first, with Android and possibly other platforms coming later. Even so, iPhone and iPod touch users still get into the party earlier through a Passenger App Control platform that lets certain iOS apps interact with or play videos through the head-end.
Europeans should get a crack at the XAV-601BT before the end of the month, although we suspect Sony will want to wait for more phone support before bringing MirrorLink to less-than-Nokia-friendly American shores.