BlackBerry Unveils Autonomous Vehicle Hub In Canada (venturebeat.com)

BlackBerry's Unix-like OS, QNX, is already in millions of cars. But today they're expanding their facility in Ottawa "to focus on developing advanced driver assistance and autonomous vehicle technology," according to Reuters. And one analyst says "If they can prove that they have the whole package and the security, they could absolutely dominate the market." After a detour where QNX's industrial-focused software was used to reinvent the now-discarded BlackBerry phone operating system, BlackBerry is focused on how its embedded software interacts with the explosion of sensors, cameras and other components required for a car to drive itself... "What QNX is doing is providing the infrastructure that allows you to build higher-level algorithms and to also acquire data from the sensors in a reliable manner," said Sebastian Fischmeister, a University of Waterloo associate professor who has worked with QNX since 2009.
Instead of focussing on AI, BlackBerry wants "a niche role as a trusty sidekick," Reuters reports, adding that besides a recent deal with Ford, BlackBerry is also holding advanced discussions with "more than one or two" major automakers, according to the head of the company.

Comments

Re:Sorry Blackberry, you're a dead brand

[MachineShedFred]

Please realize that the QNX guys are very different from the idiots that managed to lose the entire smartphone market to upstarts. QNX runs some of the most dangerous computing environments out there, and has been in use in cars for over a decade, because it's something you can rely upon, unlike almost every other OS that just ships with a disclaimer saying not to use it for whatever you're looking to use it for.