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Kanex MHL HDMI adapter: Smartphone's screen on an HDTV

Kanex announces the availability of an MHL HDMI adapter that allows you to display your smartphone's screen on an HDTV.

Dong Ngo SF Labs Manager, Editor / Reviews
CNET editor Dong Ngo has been involved with technology since 2000, starting with testing gadgets and writing code for CNET Labs' benchmarks. He now manages CNET San Francisco Labs, reviews 3D printers, networking/storage devices, and also writes about other topics from online security to new gadgets and how technology impacts the life of people around the world.
Dong Ngo
The HML HDMI adapter from Kanex
The HML HDMI adapter for Kanex. Dong Ngo/CNET

If you want to view your smartphone's content on an HDTV, you can either wait for one that supports wireless display technology, such as WHDI, or get what Kanex started shipping today, an MHL HDMI adapter.

This tiny adapter has one end that plugs into the phone's existing Micro-USB port and the other end is a standard HDMI port. When used with an HDMI cable, you can use the phone with any HDMI-based display. The adapter enables users to view videos, games, photos, and other media from their mobile devices in high definition up to 1080p at 60Hz picture quality and 7.1-channel surround sound.

MHL is short for Mobile High-Definition Link, a new mobile audio/video interface standard for directly connecting portable devices to hi-def displays. That said, the adapter will only work with mobile devices that support MHL. In this case, the mobile device will mirror the content to the HDTV, and work in the MHL mode so users can use it via the big display.

Kanex says that major cell phone makers, including HTC, Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba, and Sony use MHL connections on most of their devices. These are also devices that, according to Kanex, will work with the adapter.

The new MHL HDMI adapter is available now and costs $29.