AUTOMOBILE We showed you so

QNX has been building NFC functionality into concept cars since 2015. Now, with the advent of automotive-grade tags and chips, NFC may be coming to a dashboard near you.

Paul Leroux

Why does QNX transform vehicles like the Maserati QuattroPorte GTS, Mercedes-Benz CLA45, and Bentley Continental into technology concept cars? I can think of many reasons, but three stand out. First, the cars allow us to demonstrate the inherent flexibility and customizability of QNX technology. If you could put all of the cars side by side, you would quickly see that, while they all use the same QNX platform, each has a unique feature set and a distinctive look-and-feel — no two are alike. This flexibility is of immense importance to automakers, who, for reasons of market differentiation, need to deliver a unique brand experience in each marque or vehicle line. Alf Pollex, Head of Connected Car and Infotainment at Volkswagen, says it best: “the QNX platform... enables us to offer a full range of infotainment systems, from premium level to mass volume, using a single, proven software base.”

Second, the cars explore how thoughtful integration of new technologies can make driving easier, more enjoyable, and perhaps even a little safer. Case in point: the Maserati’s obstacle awareness display, which demonstrates how ADAS systems can aggregate data from ultrasonic and LiDAR sensors to help drivers become more aware of their surroundings. This display works much like a heads-up display, but instead of providing speed, RPM, or navigation information, it offers visual cues that help the driver gauge the direction and proximity of objects around the vehicle — pedestrians, for example.

Look ma, no menus: At 2015 CES, a QNX concept car

showcased how NFC can enable single-tap Bluetooth
phone pairing. Source CrackBerry.com

Third, the cars explore solutions that address real and immediate pain points. Take, for example, the pairing of Bluetooth phones. Many consumers find this task difficult and time-consuming; automakers, for their part, see it as a source of customer dissatisfaction. So, in 2015, we started to equip some of our concept cars with near field communication (NFC) technology that enables one-touch phone pairing. This pairing is as easy it sounds: you simply touch an NFC-enabled phone to an NFC tag embedded in the car’s console, and voilà, pairing with the car’s infotainment system happens automatically.

Prime timeNFC in the car holds much promise, but when, exactly, will it be ready for prime time? Pretty soon, as it turns out. In a recent article, “NFC looks to score big in cars,” Automotive Engineering International points to several vendors, including Broadcom, NXP, Melexis, Texas Instruments and ams AG, that have either announced or shipped automotive-grade NFC solutions. NXP, for example, expects that some of its NFC tags and chips will first go into production cars around 2016.

Mind you, NFC isn’t just for phone pairing. It can, for example, enable key-fob applications that allow phones to store user preferences for seat positions and radio stations. It can also enable use cases in which multiple drivers operate the same vehicle, such as car sharing or fleet management. The important thing is, it’s moving from concept to production, marking one more step in the seamless integration of cars and smartphones.

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Did you know…

• BMW embeds NFC tags not only in its cars, but also in print ads.

• IHS has predicted that, in 2018, global shipments of NFC-equipped cellphones will reach 1.2 billion units.

• NFC World publishes a living document that lists all of the NFC handsets available worldwide.

Report from CTIA Wireless: Apps in the Car

You wouldn’t think that CTIA Wireless, a mobile show, would be a good venue for a car guy. But automotive journalist Doug Newcomb put together a set of panels that managed to attract everyone from the automotive industry who attended the show.

I met a good number of friends from a variety of automakers, tier one suppliers, and hardware and software vendors. I also had the distinct pleasure of participating in one of Doug's panels, which was moderated by Damon Lavrinc of WIRED.

The topic was the future of apps in the car, and it generated a spirited discussion. Panel participants included Geoff Snyder from Pandora, Michelle Avary from Toyota, Henry Bzeih from Kia, and Scott Burnell from Ford — all experts on the topic.

Andy speaking on the

apps panel. Videos of all

the panels are now online.

In general, we agreed: apps are coming to the car. They have already arrived in several cases, and it’s only a matter of time before they come to mass-market vehicles. And apps are not for North American alone: it's a worldwide phenomenon.

Mind you, we engaged in lively debate on a number of questions: What role does the mobile app developer play? How to deal with the fragmentation caused by different OEM app platforms? How to deal with driver distraction? And when will the "one man app" ever make it into the car? We all had good and varied opinions on these topics, and the session was very well received by the audience.

Derek Kuhn, QNX vice president of sales and marketing, also participated in a panel session, titled "Can we all just get along… for the consumer's sake?". That panel focused on how the industry as a whole can create a more seamless experience for the consumer. Derek's co-panelists included Mark Harland from GM, Leo McCloskey from Airbiquity, Brian Radloff from Nuance, and Niall Berkery from Telenav.

Did I mention? Videos of all the panels are now on Doug Newcomb's website — check them out!
 

Garmin taps QNX technology to create K2 infotainment platform

Complete digital cockpit delivers navigation, diagnostics, streaming media, smartphone integration, and voice recognition

Paul Leroux

This just in: Garmin International has selected the QNX CAR platform to power the Garmin K2, a next-generation infotainment solution for automakers.

Most people are familiar with Garmin's many portable GPS devices, from sports watches to action cameras to PNDs. But the K2 is a different animal altogether — a complete “digital cockpit” that comprises multiple digital displays, on- and off-board voice recognition, smartphone integration, and optional embedded 4G connectivity.

The K2 is designed to give drivers simple, intuitive access to navigation, vehicle diagnostics, streaming media, and realtime Web information. It's also designed with scalability in mind, so automakers can use it to address diverse market requirements and cost targets.

According to Matt Munn, managing director of Garmin’s automotive OEM group, “the QNX CAR platform has played a major role in helping us to achieve our goal of providing both world-class software reliability and flexible access to emerging consumer applications. From the proven stability and performance of the QNX architecture to the company’s worldwide industry recognition, QNX was the logical choice.”

Other key features of the K2 include a 3D-enhanced city model, a predictive services calendar, and remote personalization and control via a web portal or smartphone.

Here's the K2 at a glance:

Source: Garmin

And here's a demo of the system, filmed by Engadget at 2015 CES:



For more information on this announcement, read the press release. And for more on the K2 itself, visit the Garmin blog.

AUTOMOBILE HTML5 and the software engineer

HTML5 appears to have a number of benefits for consumers and car manufacturers. But what is often good for the goose is not necessarily good for the developer. Talking to the guys in the trenches is critical to understanding the true viability of HTML5.

Andy Gryc and Sheridan Ethier, manager of the automotive development team at QNX, pair up for a technical discussion on HTML5. They explore whether this new technology can support rich user interfaces, how HTML5 apps can be blended with apps written in OpenGL, and if interprocess communication can be implemented between native and web-based applications.

So without further ado, here’s the latest in the educational series of HTML5 videos from QNX.



This interview of Sheridan Ethier is the third in a series from QNX on HTML5.

AUTOMOBILE What if…

Imagine if your car could help you become more connected to friends and family — and to the road ahead. Enter a new video that peers into the not-so-distant future.

It blows my mind, but some people still see connectivity in the car as the enemy. They think that, the more connected the car, the more distracting and dangerous it will be. But you know what? Responding to their concerns is easy. I simply ask them what if.

For instance, what if connectivity helped you drive with greater situational awareness? What if it helped you sidestep traffic jams and axle-busting pot holes? What if it helped you detect a stop sign hidden behind a tree? And what if it helped you become more connected to the people important to you, as well as to the road and the cars around you?

When we talk connectivity at QNX, that’s the kind of connectivity we envision. It isn’t just about Bluetooth or Wi-Fi or LTE — that’s only the plumbing. Rather, it’s about keeping you in tune and in sync with your car, your environment, your business, your friends. Your life.

AUTOMOBILE QNX-powered Audi MMI framework to support Android Auto

This just in: Audi has announced that its Audi MMI mobile media application framework, which is built on the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment, will support the new Android Auto connectivity solution.

The new feature will allow drivers to access Android-device car apps using Audi MMI displays and controls, which Audi has optimized for safe and intuitive operation on the road.

Audi states that the MMI system will still maintain its compatibility with other smartphones. Moreover, drivers will be able to switch between the Android view and Audi infotainment functions, as desired.

Audi is a long-standing customer of QNX Software Systems. Audi systems based on QNX technology include the recent Audi Virtual Cockpit and Audi Connect with Google Earth.

Audi plans to introduce Android Auto support in all-new models launched in 2015. For the complete story on Audi support for Android Auto, read the Audi press release.

AUTOMOBILE New webinar: Understanding mobile apps for the car

You're an app developer. You're looking for new opportunities. You were hoping, perhaps, that Web-connected refrigerators would be the next big thing. Being first to market with a fridge app — that would have been cool, right? I mean, literally.

Problem is, the market for fridge apps hasn't warmed up yet. I'm sure it will, though. But until then, why not the car? Cars are already connected. Car makers want to make them even more connected. And those cars will need apps, whether those apps are hosted on a phone, in the cloud, or in the car itself.

Interested? Intrigued? Then set your calendar to the webinar happening this Thursday, June 28, at 1:00 pm ET. Here's the official synopsis:

Wouldn't your app look good here?

Understanding Mobile Apps for Automotive

Today's merger of mobile handsets and automotive platforms is creating a brand-new market for app developers. However there are many differences between a phone and car.

This session provides an introduction to the automotive market for the app developer looking to get into this space. Learn how a car infotainment system is structured, UI considerations that help prevent driver distraction, why HTML5 promises to be the next killer development environment for the car, and more.

On the downside, you won't learn about apps for white goods. But, because the webinar is hosted by my inimitable colleague Andy Gryc, who has actually written software for cars, you will get the straight goods. Which is, well, cool.

QNX Acoustics for Voice — a new name and a new benchmark in acoustic processing

Tina Jeffrey

Earlier this month, QNX Software Systems officially released QNX Acoustics for Voice 3.0 — the company’s latest generation of acoustic processing software for automotive hands-free voice communications. The solution sets a new benchmark in hands-free quality and supports the rigorous requirements of smartphone connectivity specifications.

Designed as a complete software solution, the product includes both the QNX Acoustics for Voice signal-processing library and the QWALive tool for tuning and configuration.

The signal-processing library manages the flow of audio during a hands-free voice call. It defines two paths: the send path, which handles audio flowing from the microphones to the far end of the call, and the receive path, which handles audio flowing from the far end to the loudspeakers in the car:





QWALive, used throughout development and pre-production phases, gives developers realtime control over all library parameters to accelerate tuning and diagnosis of audio issues:



A look under the hood
QNX Acoustics for Voice 3.0 builds on QNX Software Systems’ best-in-class acoustic echo cancellation and noise reduction algorithms, road-proven in tens of millions of cars, and offers breakthrough advancements over existing solutions.

Let me run through some of the innovative features that are already making waves (sorry, couldn’t resist) among automotive developers.

Perhaps the most significant innovation is our high efficiency technology. Why? Well, simply put, it saves up to 30% both in CPU load and in memory requirements for wideband (16 kHz sample rate for HD Voice) and Wideband Plus (24 kHz sample rate). This translates into the ability to do more processing on existing hardware, and with less memory. For instance, automakers can enable new smartphone connectivity capabilities on current hardware, without compromising performance:



Another feature that premieres with this release is intelligent voice optimization technology, designed to accelerate and increase the robustness of send-path tuning. This technology implements an automated frequency response correction model that dynamically adjusts the frequency response of the send path to compensate for variations in the acoustic path and vehicle cabin conditions.

Dynamic noise shaping, which is exclusive to QNX Acoustics for Voice, also debuts in this release. It enhances speech quality in the send path by reducing broadband noise from fans, defrost vents, and HVAC systems — a welcome feature, as broadband noise can be particularly difficult for hands-free systems to contend with.

Flexibility and portability — check and check
Like its predecessor (QNX Aviage Acoustic Processing 2.0), QNX Acoustics for Voice 3.0 continues to offer maximum flexibility to automakers. The modular software library comes with a comprehensive API, easing integration efforts into infotainment, telematics, and audio amplifier modules. Developers can choose from fixed- and floating-point versions that can be ported to a variety of operating systems and deployed on a wide range of processors or DSPs.

We’re excited about this release as it’s the most sophisticated acoustic voice processing solution available to date, and it allows automakers to build and hone systems for a variety of speech requirements, across all their vehicle platforms.

Check out the QNX Acoustics for Voice product page to learn more.

QNX and Freescale talk future of in-car infotainment

Paul Leroux

QNX and Freescale enjoy one of the longest technology partnerships in the field of automotive infotainment. The roots of their relationship reach back to 1999, when QNX became a founding member of MobileGT, an industry alliance formed by Motorola (Freescale's parent company) to drive the development of infotainment systems.

If you've read any of my blog posts on the QNX concept car (see here, here, and here), you've seen an example of how mixing QNX and Freescale technologies can yield some very cool results.

So it's no surprise that when Jennifer Hesse of Embedded Computing Design wanted to publish an article on the challenges of in-car infotainment, she approached both companies. The resulting interview, which features Andy Gryc of QNX and Paul Sykes of Freescale, runs the gamut — from mobile-device integration and multicore processors to graphical user interfaces and upgradeable architectures. You can read it here.
 

AUTOMOBILE Traveling on reserve power

Or how a new kind of electro-mobility can be fun. A guest post from Thomas Fleischmann of Elektrobit Automotive.

Thomas Fleishmann

Imagine you are always driving on reserve power. You find this difficult? Get used to it — and welcome to the new era of electro-mobility! Vehicles like the Chevy Volt, with its secondary combustion engine, are already addressing this challenge — but having to support two types of driving technology can be challenging and costly.

So how can electro-mobility, which is supported by software, be implemented meaningfully? And how do we get drivers to accept it? Certainly not by abandoning the driver with nothing but a nicely animated display of the car’s battery condition.

Let's assume you live in a big city. You don’t even own a car. Instead, you subscribe to a certain number of hours of travel time with your favorite car brand. In addition to your S or XL subscription for four weeks a year, you get access to a fossil-fuel engine for your vacation in another state or country twice a year.

In the morning you find and reserve a car with your BlackBerry phone and get into it at a nearby charge-point. The HMI adapts to your profile settings automatically — your friends, contacts, addresses, and music are already there. The navigation system is your energy consultant; it tells you, based on traffic conditions and topography, how far you can drive with this car and, at the appropriate time, suggests an available electric socket within easy reach. Or the system warns you to turn back soon if you want to arrive home safely. After parking the car successfully, your smartphone guides you for the last few kilometers by bus or subway to your destination — it knows the way and easily adopts the data of your navigation system.

Using software solutions like EB GUIDE or EB street director and frameworks like the QNX CAR application platform you can concentrate on creating the end-user experience and transform the journey on reserve power into something fun and convenient — suddenly an electric vehicle becomes a smart mobility concept.

Check this out; I fried it last week. The yellow center represents the area in which you can drive and go back home. The white area represents the range you can drive, depending on traffic or topography:

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Thomas Fleischmann is Senior Product Manager at Elektrobit Automotive responsible for the HMI solution EB GUIDE. Contact him at Thomas.Fleischmann@elektrobit.com.

MirrorLink misunderstood: 8 myths that need busting

If you're new to MirrorLink, it's a technology that bridges the mobile phone and the car. It allows specially written apps running on the phone to be displayed on the car's head unit, where the user can interact with them.

MirrorLink is intended to extend the life of in-vehicle systems by allowing them to interact with mobile content and to support new features that didn’t exist when the car rolled off the assembly line.

Here's an illustration of how it works:


MirrorLink in-car communication. The protocol between the head unit and the phone can run over several transports, including USB, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi. This example assumes Bluetooth for the audio back-channel.

When I talk to people in the automotive and mobile industries, I find they share a number of common misconceptions about MirrorLink, which I’d like to clear up. So let's get started, shall we?

1. MirrorLink is an Android technology. In fact, MirrorLink works with multiple mobile platforms. Phones using Android can support it, but so can phones from any other phone maker that supports the standard. Even Apple phones could support it, though Apple has currently chosen to go their own route with Apple-specific solutions.
   
   
2. MirrorLink allows any mobile app to run in the car. This is incorrect. A MirrorLink app can run in the car only if the car maker grants “trust” to that app. Each car maker has a different concept of what brands to promote, what features are safe, or what works well with each car. So, in reality, each app will be enabled depending on the individual make — or even model — of car.
   
   
3. MirrorLink promotes “driver distracting” apps. Also incorrect. MirrorLink is an enabling technology that doesn’t promote any type of app in particular. In fact, because the car maker must grant trust to an app, the app developer can't control what apps run in the car. That responsibility remains the domain of car makers, who tend to avoid anything that will cause distraction when displayed on a front-seat screen.
   
   
4. MirrorLink is the only way to connect an app to the car. There are in fact two others: iPod Out and HTML5. Apple supports iPod Out for Apple devices, which allows selected applications to output analog video to the head unit. (Note that the new iPhone 5 doesn’t support iPod Out.) HTML5 also allows mobile apps to run in the head unit, though its use in car-to-phone bridging is still in the early stages. QNX Software Systems has demonstrated concept vehicles that use BlackBerry Bridge (an HTML5-based technology) to connect an HTML5 app on a BlackBerry phone to the car’s head unit.
   
   
5. Mobile app makers will benefit most from MirrorLink. In fact, car makers may end up taking best advantage of the technology. That’s because they can use MirrorLink to customize and create apps, and to refresh those apps as a way of delivering fresh, new functions to their customers. MirrorLink gives them the ability to do this using a standardized protocol supported by most mobile platforms. Car makers could use MirrorLink very effectively, even if they never allowed any third party apps into their cars.
   
   
6. HTML5 and MirrorLink are incompatible. Not necessarily true. Current versions of MirrorLink use the VNC protocol to exchange graphical data. None of the advantages of HTML5 would be incompatible with a future version of MirrorLink; in fact, some members of the Connected Car Consortium (CCC), including QNX Software Systems, would likely be interested in merging these two standards. That would result in a new version of MirrorLink that uses HTML5 as the underlying communication protocol. (The MirrorLink specification is controlled by the Car Connectivity Consortium, of which QNX is a member.)
   
   Even if MirrorLink does go to HTML5, the industry would still need a VNC-based form of MirrorLink. VNC has much lighter requirements on the head-unit side, so it makes more sense than HTML5 if the car doesn’t have a high-powered CPU or lots of memory. The broadest possible option would be to have phone apps support multiple versions of MirrorLink (today's version with VNC plus a future version with HTML5) and to use whichever one makes sense, depending on what the car supports.
   
   
7. MirrorLink obviates the need for car-downloadable apps. Yes, MirrorLink capability is somewhat similar in purpose to downloading apps into the car; they both extend the functionality of the car after it leaves the factory. Because the customer’s phone will almost certainly be newer than the car’s electronics, it will have a faster CPU, giving the raw speed advantage to a MirrorLink app on the mobile. The MirrorLink app will also have guaranteed data access since the hosting phone will always have a data pipe — something that isn't certain on the car side of the equation.
   
   On the other hand, MirrorLink doesn’t give an app access to car features that would available to a car-downloaded app — features such as vehicle bus access, telematics features, or the navigation system. Also, a car-downloaded app would likely have a faster HMI than any off-board app, even if the mobile had a faster CPU, because of latencies inherent to screen replication. The car-downloaded app would also have better visual integration, as it could take full advantage of the car features, instead of appearing as a bolt-on product. Other factors, based on automaker control, compatibility, or product roadmaps could also favor an in-car solution. Even if you could address some of these issues, there would still be enough reasons for MirrorLink and an auto app store to live side-by-side.
   
   
8. MirrorLink apps can be built today. This is technically true. But, in their enthusiasm, new converts can sometimes forget that cars need to support MirrorLink for anything to actually work. Currently, only aftermarket car stereos support MirrorLink; no production vehicles support it. So if you’re a mobile app developer, the market for MirrorLink apps today is negligible. But expect this situation to improve dramatically over the next two to three years as production vehicles start to ship with this capability built-in.

OnStar RemoteLink app comes to BlackBerry smartphones

This just in: The RemoteLink App from OnStar, which allows smartphone owners to remotely start their vehicles, check fuel levels, and lock or unlock their doors, is now available for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 phones.

RemoteLink has been available for iPhone and Android phones, but many OnStar subscribers have asked for a BlackBerry version of the app. In response, Onstar wrote a new version for the BlackBerry platform, in HTML5.

“Writing the app using HTML5... positioned us to be more flexible supporting new phone operating systems,” said Steve Schwinke, director of advanced systems development for OnStar.

Opening screen
for RemoteLink
© GM Company 

In 2015, OnStar added navigation to RemoteLink, allowing users to search for a destination on their smartphone and send it directly to their vehicle. Users can then access the route through the QNX-powered OnStar system.

By leveraging OnStar’s connection to the vehicle, the app can report on oil levels, tire pressures, fuel level, and lifetime miles per gallon. It also offers remote commands, such as remote start, door lock/unlock, and horn/light activation.

According to OnStar, a total of 821,000 smartphone owners actively use the RemoteLink app.

To read OnStar's press release, click here. To download the RemoteLink app from BlackBerry App World, click here.

On a related note, here's a conversation between QNX's Andy Gryc and OnStar's Steve Schwinke. The topic: how HTML5 can benefit the auto industry.


 

Concept car out. Reference vehicle in.

Our big announcement for Telematics Update is that we are not showing a concept car. Odd news, you say. The truth is, we're not building a concept car because we are building a reference vehicle. Splitting hairs? Not really.

Unlike the Corvette and the Porsche, our demo for this show will be based on the exact same technology that our customers are using today to design their next-generation systems.

So why vehicle instead of car? Is it a truck? Nope. A van? Negative. What about a motorcycle? Double negative.

I was hoping to give you a sneak peek at what we are working on but I'm not allowed to give away the details. However, I did manage to get these shots – let me know if you can see the vehicle. :-)


 

Auto + Mobile

I love this play on words. I can’t claim it as my own but I think it’s very cool that the word automobile breaks down into auto and mobile. I’m sure the term originally referred to automatically mobile horseless-carriages or some such thing. According to one online source, the word dates from 1895 and means “self-propelled motor vehicle”.

But today, it represents the convergence of two historically independent industries, auto and mobile. Now, more than ever, consumers are extending their digital lives into their cars. They want a personalized in-vehicle experience, including access to their music, to their friends, to their favourite places, and to their schedules — both personal and professional. And that’s just the beginning.

Following the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, I heard many in the industry refer to CES as one of the most important automotive shows of the year. You heard that right: CES is now considered an automotive show.

The new QNX concept car is
scheduled to appear at MWC.

Now it’s February and QNX Software Systems is headed to Barcelona where we will demonstrate our connected concept car on the BlackBerry stand in Hall 7 at Mobile World Congress. This same car won a Best of CES award in the car tech category.

MWC is the show for mobile phones and everything related. During the show, we will participate on a luncheon panel hosted by Fierce Markets, Paving the Way to Success for the Connected Car. Other panelists include Ford, AT&T, and the GSMA.

MWC isn’t known as an auto-focused event but I expect this to change. Most carriers see the connected car as an emerging growth market, as do silicon vendors. Meanwhile, handset and car companies work towards improving the integration of the mobile experience into the car without impacting driver distraction.

Auto + Mobile. End of story.

For more info on the panel, click here.

AUTOMOBILE Is HTML5 a good gamble?

As the consumer and automotive worlds continue to collide, HTML5 looks like a good bet. And not a long shot either. In fact, the odds are all automakers will eventually use it. But since the standard won’t be mature for some time yet, should you take a chance on it now? 

To answer this, Andy Gryc talks to Matthew Staikos of RIM. Matthew is the manager of the browser and web platform group at RIM, and has over 10 years of software development experience with a strong focus on WebKit for mobile and embedded systems. Matthew co-founded Torch Mobile, which was acquired by RIM for their browser technology.

Andy’s conversation with Matthew is the subject of the following video, the second in an educational series designed to get an industry-wide perspective on HTML5. 

This interview of Matthew Staikos is the second in a series from QNX on HTML5.

AUTOMOBILE Find me a Starbucks! QNX concept car showcases power of WATSON speech engine

Yes, you can talk to the QNX concept car and tell it what to do.

Recently, our friends at AT&T invited us to bring the concept car to their "Living the Networked Life" event in New York. We said yes, of course! After all, what could be cooler than riding the streets of Gotham City in a digitally pimped-out Porsche 911?

Kidding aside, the event provided an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how the car takes advantage of WATSON, AT&T's natural-language speech engine. To get an idea of what WATSON can do, check out this video from Terrence O'Brien of Engadget:



For the full Engadget article, click here. And stay tuned for more updates from the Living the Networked Life event.

For safety’s sake, why don’t cars just disable phones?

With all the focus on driver distraction, this is a question that I get asked occasionally. It’s a simple question, with a less than simple answer.

Using technology to control inappropriate phone use has been a topic at some of the driver distraction meetings I've attended. One proposed solution involves a technique called micro location — using ultrasonic waves to identify where in the cabin the phone is located. There are other ways to triangulate the phone's position, but they all require coordination between the phone and car. Knowing where the phone resides in the car is a requirement, as most passengers wouldn’t be happy to have their phone automatically disabled, just because they’re in the car. And the solution can’t be based only on the GPS speed of the phone, or you’d have lots of irate bus, taxi, train, or subway riders.

The fact is, unless all phone makers and car makers agree on the same standard, there's no incentive for either side to build half of a feature. You’d need to deploy potentially expensive technology that wouldn’t work unless you pair exactly the right phone with the right car. This likely won't happen unless companies are legislated to do so.

Given the speed of automotive development, it’s impossible for the car guys to build a technology that the phone guys won't leave in the dust, unless some guarantees are put in place. The adoption of Bluetooth is a good example. It took years before Bluetooth became widespread in phones, but its adoption had more to do with Bluetooth earpieces, not connections to cars. Car makers took a long time to roll out Bluetooth support as a standard feature because too many phones either didn't have it or had an implementation that wasn't fully compatible. Eventually, the two markets synchronized, but it took several years.

One argument against a technology-mandated disable is that not all jurisdictions agree on what is, or isn’t, allowable. In the US, 45 out of 50 states have some form of prohibition against using phones in cars. But what is disallowed varies widely by state — some don't allow any use of the phone (even hands-free), some prohibit teenagers but no other age groups, some disallow texting but not hands-free, some disallow use for commercial vehicles but not private vehicles, and some allow everything.

Another argument against a technological solution is that people can be educated to assume responsibility for their behavior. For example, why don't all cars have a blood alcohol level blow-tester hooked up to the ignition? Technically it's possible, but it's very expensive to do it from the car maker's standpoint. One could argue that it is worth it to have cars protect us from ourselves. But as a society, we've decided that, in the case of drunk driving, we are willing to give people back the responsibility. Rather than control the problem with technology, we socialize and educate people that driving intoxicated is an undesirable behavior.

We could, of course, decide to do the same with mobile technology, by educating personally instead of solving technically. This approach may make more sense than a technology-based prohibition: technology always moves at light speed compared to legislative mechanisms of control.
 

The ultimate show-me car

The fifth installment in the CES Cars of Fame series. Our inductee for this week: a most bodacious Bentley.

It's one thing to say you can do something. It's another thing to prove it. Which helps explain why we create technology concept cars.

You see, we like to tell people that flexibility and customization form the very DNA of the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment. Which they do. But in the automotive world, people don't just say "tell me"; they say "show me". And so, we used the platform to transform a Bentley Continental GT into a unique concept car, equipped with features never before seen in a vehicle.

Now here's the thing. This is the same QNX CAR Platform found in the QNX reference vehicle, which I discussed last week. But when you compare the infotainment systems in the two vehicles, the differences are dramatic: different features, different branding, different look-and-feel.

The explanation is simple: The reference vehicle shows what the QNX CAR Platform can do out of the box, while the Bentley demonstrates what the platform lets you do once you add your imagination to mix. One platform, many possibilities.

Enough talk; time to look at the car. And let's start with the exterior, because wow:



The awesome (and full HD) center stack
And now let's move to the interior, where the first thing you see is a gorgeous center stack. This immense touchscreen features a gracefully curved surface, full HD graphics, and TI’s optical touch input technology, which allows a physical control knob to be mounted directly on the screen — a feature that’s cool and useful. The center stack supports a variety of applications, including a 3D navigation system from Elektrobit that makes full use of the display:



At 17 inches, the display is big enough to display other functions, such as the car’s media player or virtual mechanic, and still have plenty of room for navigation:



The awesome (and very configurable) digital instrument cluster
The instrument cluster is implemented entirely in software, though you would hardly know it — the virtual gauges are impressively realistic. More impressive still is the cluster’s ability to morph itself on the fly. Put the car in Drive, and the cluster will display a tach, gas gauge, temperature gauge, and turn-by-turn directions — the cluster pulls these directions from the center stack’s navigation system. Put the car in Reverse, and the cluster will display a video feed from the car’s backup camera. You can also have the cluster display the current weather and current sound track:



The awesome (and just plain fun) web app
The web app works with any web browser and allows the driver to view data that the car publishes to the cloud, such as fluid levels, tire pressure, brake wear, and the current track being played by the infotainment system. It even allows the driver to remotely start or stop the engine, open or close windows, and so on:



The awesome (and nicely integrated) smartphone support
The Bentley also showcases how the QNX CAR Platform enables advanced integration with popular smartphones. For instance, the car can communicate with a smartphone to stream music, or to provide notifications of incoming email, news feeds, and other real-time information — all displayed in a manner appropriate to the automotive context. Here's an example:



The awesome everything else
I’ve only scratched the surface of what the car can do. For instance, it also provides:

• Advanced voice rec — Just say “Hello Bentley,” and the car’s voice recognition system immediately comes to life and begins to interact with you — in a British accent, of course.
   
• Advanced multimedia system — Includes support for Internet radio.
   
• Video conferencing with realistic telepresence — Separate cameras for the driver and passenger provide independent video streams, while fullband voice technology from QNX offers expanded bandwidth for greater telepresence.
   
• LTE connectivity — The car features an LTE radio modem, as well as a Wi-Fi hotspot for devices you bring into the car.

Moving pictures
Okay, time for some video. Here's a fun look at the making of the car:



And here's a run-through of the car's many capabilities, filmed by our friends at TI during 2015 CES:

AUTOMOBILE Hitting the road with CNET on Cars

Derek Kuhn

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of Brian Cooley and his CNET on Cars show. Brian brings energy, insight, and humor to his coverage of cars and car technology — he's a joy to watch. My son and I like the show so much that it has become a ritual to watch the latest episodes together.

Over the years, Brian has gotten behind the wheel of several QNX technology concept cars. For example, at 2015 CES, he got up close and personal with our concept car based on a Bentley Continental. And just last month, he took our latest concept car, based on a Mercedes-Benz CLA45, for a drive through the streets of San Francisco.

While I was in SF, Brian and I discussed the rise of 4G connectivity in vehicles and the benefits it will bring — including a better user experience and the ability to keep the car fresh with over-the-air updates. Brian included our conversation in his recent segment on 4G in the car — check out the video, below. The episode begins with a review of the new Audi A3, which, I am proud to say, also uses an infotainment system powered by QNX technology.



What are your thoughts on 4G connectivity in the car? I would love to hear from you.

AUTOMOBILE HTML5 SDK for the QNX CAR 2 platform — the back story

Kerry Johnson

Today, at SAE Convergence, QNX Software Systems announced the new HTML5 SDK for the QNX CAR 2 application platform. I’d like to provide some insight into this announcement, describe what you can expect to find in the SDK, and explain how it builds on the HTML5 capabilities already available in the QNX CAR 2 application platform.

Enabling apps for the car
Almost every consumer who owns a smart phone or tablet is familiar with the app experience: you go to an online marketplace, find apps of interest, and download them onto your device. With the HTML5 SDK, the automotive team at QNX is creating an analogous experience for the car.

Just as Apple, Android, and RIM provide SDKs to help vendors develop apps for their mobile platforms, QNX has created an SDK to help vendors to build apps for the QNX CAR 2 application platform. The closest analogies you will find to our HTML5 SDK are Apache Cordova and PhoneGap, both of which provide tools for creating mobile apps based on HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and other web technologies.

App developers want to see the largest possible market for their apps. To that end, QNX also announced today that it will participate in the W3C’s Web and Automotive Workshop. The workshop aims to achieve industry alignment on how HTML5 is used in the car and to find common interfaces to reduce platform fragmentation from one automaker to the next. Obviously, app developers would like to see a common auto platform, while automakers want to maintain their differentiation. Thus, we believe the common ground achieved through W3C standardization will be important.

It bears mentioning that, unlike phone and tablet apps, car apps must offer a user experience that takes driver safety into consideration. This is a key issue, but beyond the scope of this post, so I won’t dwell on it here.

So what’s in the SDK, anyway?
As in any SDK, app developers will find tools to build and debug applications, and APIs that provide access the underlying platform. Specifically, the SDK will include:

• APIs to access vehicle resources, such as climate control, radio, navigation, and media playback
• APIs to manage the application life cycle: start, stop, show, hide, etc.
• APIs to discover and launch other applications
• A packaging tool to combine application code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and UI resources (icons, images, etc.) with QNX CAR APIs to create an installable application – a .bar file
• A emulator for the QNX CAR 2 platform to test HTML5 applications
• Oh yeah, and documentation and examples

The development and deployment flow looks something like this:




Emulator and debugging environment
The QNX automotive team has extended the Ripple emulator environment to work with the QNX CAR 2 application platform. Ripple is an emulation environment originally designed for BlackBerry smart phones that RIM has open sourced on github.

Using this extended emulator, application developers can test their applications with the correct screen resolution and layout, and watch how their application interacts with the QNX CAR 2 platform APIs. For example, consider an application that controls audio in a car: balance, fade, bass, treble, volume, and so on. The screenshot below shows the QNX CAR 2 screen for controlling these settings in the Ripple emulator.


Using the Ripple emulator to test an audio application. Click to magnify.

In this example, you can use the onscreen controls to adjust volume, bass, treble, fade, and balance; you can also observe the changes to the underlying data values in the right-hand panel. And you can work the other way: by changing the controls on the right, you can observe changes to the on-screen display. The Ripple interface supports many other QNX CAR 2 features; for examples, see the QNX Flickr page.

You can also use the emulator in conjunction with the Web Inspector debugger to do full source-code debugging of your Javascript code.

Creating native services
Anyone who has developed software for the QNX Neutrino OS knows that we offer the QNX Momentics Tool Suite for creating and testing C and C++ applications. With the QNX CAR 2 application platform, this is still the case. Native-level services are built with the QNX Momentics suite, and HTML5 applications are built with our new HTML5 SDK. We've decided to offer the suite and the SDK as separate packages so that app developers who need to work only in the HTML5 domain needn't worry about the QNX Momentics Tool Suite and vice versa. Together, these toolkits allow you to create HTML5 user interface components with underlying native services, where required.