Apple → [Apple CarPlay] This might surprise some.

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If you have ever heard of them, you'd know that they tend to be very 'vague' in what they present to you, other than words like 'major shift' and stuff like that.

One article, about 6 months ago, was stating that an OS maker would be making major inroads for just about all car manufactures. An OS that is struggling. (so that would remove any Apple OS from the mix)

I did some research, and I came down to QNX (BlackBerry) and Sync (Microsoft).

Now, as it turns out, Apple CarPlay system run on top of QNX, or, BlackBerry.

Not really surprising since QNX (which runs the current generation of BlackBerry devices) is rock solid, and, like iOS and OS X, is UNIX or Unix-like.

Not that this should be surprising, since Apple is a partner with QNX.

quote:

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We reached out to Paul Leroux at QNX and he has confirmed our presumption:

“Connectivity to smartphones and other mobile devices is a key strength of QNX Software Systems’ platform for car infotainment systems, and many automakers and tier one automotive suppliers use our platform to implement smartphone/head-unit integration in their vehicles. We have a long-standing partnership with Apple to ensure high-quality connectivity with their devices, and this partnership extends to support for Apple CarPlay.”

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»n4bb.com/apple-carplay-i ··· rys-qnx/

Interesting because I would have thought Apple would have gone at it alone.

As for BlackBerry, not sure how much it helps them out, their QNX division is a really small part of their business portfolio, although arguably, the most stable and most important.

Interesting article about the car company's and their stake in this future battlefield

quote:

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Car Makers Hold Smartphones at Bay

Apple, Google Phones Get Access to, But Not Control of Dashboard Screen

By William Boston and George Downs

March 5, 2014 9:33 p.m. ET

GENEVA— Apple Inc. and Google Inc. are stepping on the gas to integrate their smartphones with car communications systems, but big car companies insist the dashboard screen belongs to them and the only role for the pair is as app supplier.

One reason car makers are reluctant to let Apple and Google get too close to their in-car networks is that no one can say with any certainty how valuable the online services revenue and data generated by drivers and passengers will become. Big Data, the information created by every mouse click and song pick online, is a growing source of digital revenue.

"We are trying to figure out what Big Data means for us, also in respect to our partners," said Norbert Reithofer, chief executive of BMW AG . "We've brought our own group of specialists on board."

The German luxury car maker has its own in-car communications system called BMW Connected Drive that establishes an Internet connection through an embedded mobile phone card, making the car's communications system independent of a smartphone. It doesn't need Apple or Google to provide services ranging from navigation to restaurant searches and hotel booking. ...

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»online.wsj.com/news/arti ··· 9371326?

If I'm not mistaken, many of the audio systems in today's vehicles run QNX "under the hood", so it would make sense that Apple (and others) would want to/need to support that in their efforts to provide enhanced connectivity and communication in the vehicle marketplace.

cisco systems also runs qnx on their carrier class routing systems -- meant for highest redundancy and uptime -- all while running on a real-time operating system. qnx is in more places that you'd think.

q.

Right. This isn't anything new. Many, if not most, cars already had QNX (the biggest exception being Ford), so of course Apple had to work with them.

Apple's goal wasn't to put iOS in the car (which is probably why they dropped the name), it was to put an iPhone in the car. The easiest way to do that is to work with what's already there and just ride on top of it.

And as far as I know, QNX was doing this type of stuff well before Blackberry so the only compliment to pay to BB is that they were smart enough to snatch QNX while they still had flexibility.

Yes, probably the best purchase that BlackBerry ever made. Bought intentionally to be put into their new smartphones. Sucks for them that their phones haven't sold as quick as they had hoped.

I am surprised that QNX wasn't snatched up sooner though. Either Apple or MS could have bought them, not even a bid war.