It pays to uncover... the new QNX reference vehicle

As you know, we are gearing up for Telematics Detroit next week and bringing our brand new reference vehicle to the show. I would tell you what kind of car it is, but that would take away all the fun! We posted some pictures earlier but we wanted to give you a few more to see if you can correctly guess the brand name and model.

And to make it interesting, if you’re right, we’ll give you a $25 gift certificate to Starbucks! We will award gift cards to the first 25 people who respond with the correct answer and currently reside in the United States or Canada.

Earlier votes don’t count; you have to vote on Twitter, starting today. Simply follow our handle at @QNX_Auto and tweet @QNX_Auto with your guess, and you’ll be entered. And stay tuned on Twitter, where we’ll post more pictures. Don’t have Twitter? You can vote here, but you must include your email. And in order to play fair, QNX employees aren't eligible - shucks.

Check out the pictures below and get your votes in early. The car will be unveiled, and winners notified, on June 6. Good luck!

My top moments of 2015 — so far

Paul Leroux

Yes, I know, 2015 isn’t over yet. But it’s been such a milestone year for our automotive business that I can’t wait another two months to talk about it. And besides, you’ll be busy as an elf at the end of December, visiting family and friends, skiing the Rockies, or buying exercise equipment to compensate for all those holiday carbs. Which means if I wait, you’ll never get to read this. So let’s get started.


We unveil a totally new (and totally cool) technology concept car

Times Square. We were there.

It all began at 2015 CES, when we took the wraps off the latest QNX technology concept car — a one-of-a-kind Bentley Continental GT. The QNX concept team outfitted the Bentley with an array of technologies, including a high-definition DLP display, a 3D rear-view camera, cloud-based voice recognition, smartphone connectivity, and… oh heck, just read the blog post to get the full skinny.

Even if you weren’t at CES, you could still see the car in action. Brian Cooley of CNET, Michael Guillory of Texas Instruments, the folks at Elektrobit, and Discovery Canada’s Daily Planet were just some of the individuals and organizations who posted videos. You could also connect to the car through a nifty web app. Heck, you could even see the Bentley’s dash on the big screen in Times Square, thanks to the promotional efforts of Elektrobit, who also created the 3D navigation software for the concept car.

We ship the platform
We wanted to drive into CES with all cylinders firing, so we also released version 2.0 of the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment. In fact, several customers in the U.S., Germany, Japan, and China had already started to use the platform, through participation in an early access program. Which brings me to the next milestone...

Delphi boards the platform

The first of many.

Also at CES, Delphi, a global automotive supplier and long-time QNX customer, announced that version 2.0 of the QNX CAR Platform will form the basis of its next-generation infotainment systems. As it turned out, this was just one of several QNX CAR customer announcements in 2015 — but I’m getting ahead of myself.

We have the good fortune to be featured in Fortune
Fast forward to April, when Fortune magazine took a look at how QNX Software Systems evolved from its roots in the early 1980s to become a major automotive player. Bad news: you need a subscription to read the article on the Fortune website. Good news: you can read the same article for free on CNN Money. ;-)

A music platform sets the tone for our platform
In April, 7digital, a digital music provider, announced that it will integrate its 23+ million track catalogue with the QNX CAR Platform. It didn't take long for several other partners to announce their platform support. These include Renesas (R-Car system-on-chip for high-performance infotainment), AutoNavi (mobile navigation technology for the Chinese market), Kotei (navigation engine for the Japanese market), and Digia (Qt application framework).

We stay focused on distraction
Back in early 2015, Scott Pennock of QNX was selected to chair an ITU-T focus group on driver distraction. The group’s objective was serious and its work was complex, but its ultimate goal was simple: to help reduce collisions. This year, the group wrapped up its work and published several reports — but really, this is only the beginning of QNX and ITU-T efforts in this area.

We help develop a new standard

Goodbye fragmentation; hello
standard APIs.

Industry fragmentation sucks. It means everyone is busy reinventing the wheel when they could be inventing something new instead. So I was delighted to see my colleague Andy Gryc become co-chair of the W3C Automotive and Web Platform Business Group, which has the mandate to accelerate the adoption of web technologies in the car. Currently, the group is working to draft a standard set of JavaScript APIs for accessing vehicle data information. Fragmentation, thy days are numbered.

We launch an auto safety program

A two-handed approach to
helping ADAS developers.

On the one hand, we have a 30-year history in safety-critical systems and proven competency in safety certifications. On the other hand, we have deep experience in automotive software design. So why not join both hands together and allow auto companies to leverage our full expertise when they are building digital instrument clusters, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and other in-car systems with safety requirements?

That’s the question we asked ourselves, and the answer was the new QNX Automotive Safety Program for ISO 26262. The program quickly drew support from several industry players, including Elektrobit, Freescale, NVIDIA, and Texas Instruments.

We jive up the Jeep

A tasty mix of HTML5 & Android
apps, served on a Qt interface,
with OpenGL ES on the side.

If you don’t already know, we use a Jeep Wrangler as our reference vehicle — basically, a demo vehicle outfitted with a stock version of the QNX CAR Platform. This summer, we got to trick out the Jeep with a new, upcoming version of the platform, which adds support for Android apps and for user interfaces based on the Qt 5 framework.

Did I mention? The platform runs Android apps in a separate application container, much like it handles HTML5 apps. This sandboxed approach keeps the app environment cleanly partitioned from the UI, protecting both the UI and the overall system from unpredictable web content. Good, that.

The commonwealth’s leader honors our leader

I only ate one piece. Honest.

Okay, this one has nothing to do with automotive, but I couldn’t resist. Dan Dodge, our CEO and co-founder, received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his many achievements and contributions to Canadian society. To celebrate, we gave Dan a surprise party, complete with the obligatory cake. (In case you’re wondering, the cake was yummy. But any rumors suggesting that I went back for a second, third, and fourth piece are total fabrications. Honestly, the stories people cook up.)

Mind you, Dan wasn’t the only one to garner praise. Sheridan Ethier, the manager of the QNX CAR development team, was also honored — not by the queen, but by the Ottawa Business Journal for his technical achievements, business leadership, and community involvement.

Chevy MyLink drives home with first prize — twice
There's nothing better than going home with first prize. Except, perhaps, doing it twice. In January, the QNX-based Chevy MyLink system earned a Best of CES 2015 Award, in the car tech category. And in May, it pulled another coup: first place in the "Automotive, LBS, Navigation & Safe Driving" category of the 2015 CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards.

Panasonic, Garmin, and Foryou get with the platform

Garmin K2 platform: because
one great platform deserves
another.

August was crazy busy — and crazy good. Within the space of two weeks, three big names in the global auto industry revealed that they’re using the QNX CAR Platform for their next-gen systems. Up first was Panasonic, who will use the platform to build systems for automakers in North America, Europe, and Japan. Next was Foryou, who will create infotainment systems for automakers in China. And last was Garmin, who are using the platform in the new Garmin K2, the company’s infotainment solution for automotive OEMs.

And if all that wasn’t cool enough…

Mercedes-Benz showcases the platform

Did I mention I want one?

When Mercedes-Benz decides to wow the crowds at the Frankfurt Motor Show, it doesn’t settle for second best. Which is why, in my not so humble opinion, they chose the QNX CAR Platform for the oh-so-desirable Mercedes-Benz Concept S-Class Coupé.

Mind you, this isn’t the first time QNX and Mercedes-Benz have joined forces. In fact, the QNX auto team and Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America have collaborated since the early 2000s. Moreover, QNX has supplied the OS for a variety of Mercedes infotainment systems. The infotainment system and digital cluster in the Concept S-Class Coupé are the latest — and arguably coolest — products of this long collaboration.

We create noise to eliminate noise

Taking a sound approach to
creating a quieter ride.

Confused yet? Don’t be. You see, it’s quite simple. Automakers today are using techniques like variable cylinder management, which cut fuel consumption (good), but also increase engine noise (bad). Until now, car companies have been using active noise control systems, which play “anti-noise” to cancel out the unwanted engine sounds. All fine and good, but these systems require dedicated hardware — and that makes them expensive. So we devised a software product, QNX Acoustics for Active Noise Control, that not only out-performs conventional solutions, but can run on the car’s existing audio or infotainment hardware. Goodbye dedicated hardware, hello cost savings.

And we flub our lines on occasion
Our HTML5 video series has given companies like Audi, OnStar, Gartner, TCS, and Pandora a public forum to discuss why HTML5 and other open standards are key to the future of the connected car. The videos are filled with erudite conversation, but every now and then, it becomes obvious that sounding smart in front of a camera is a little harder than it looks. So what did we do with the embarrassing bits? Create a blooper reel, of course.

Are these bloopers our greatest moments? Nope. Are they among the funniest? Oh yeah. :-)

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.

HTML5 Hackathon

Learn how to put together HTML5 apps at the HTML5 Hackathon. You'll get hands-on experience with WebWorks, which is the BlackBerry tool for building applications with HTML5.

That'll get you primed for building HTML5 apps for the QNX CAR 2 application platform!

QNX, AutoNavi collaborate to provide in-car navigation for automakers in China

Map database offers 20 million points of interest

Paul Leroux

This just in: QNX has announced that it is partnering with AutoNavi, a leading provider of digital map content and navigation solutions in China, to integrate AutoNavi’s technology into the QNX CAR platform.

AutoNavi offers a digital map database that covers approximately 3.6 million kilometers of roadway and over 20 million points of interest across China. By supporting this database, the QNX CAR platform will enable automotive companies to create navigation systems optimized for the Chinese market and users.

Said Yongqi Yang, executive vice president of automotive business, AutoNavi, “as a leading global provider of vehicle infotainment software platforms, QNX is not only a technology leader, but also a design concept innovator in enhancing vehicle flexibility — infotainment designs based on the QNX CAR Platform can be quickly customized.”

For more information on this partnership, read the press release. And to learn more about AutoNavi, visit their website.

Leading infotainment supplier in China makes the shift to QNX CAR platform

Paul Leroux

This just in: Foryou General Electronics, a global supplier of in-car infotainment systems, has chosen the QNX CAR platform to develop infotainment and navigation systems for automakers in China.

Said Steven Chen, CTO of Foryou General Electronics, ”we appreciate the modular, pre-integrated approach that the QNX CAR platform offers because it allows us to develop highly reliable, differentiated infotainment solutions for entry-level to high-end vehicles.”

A Foryou infotainment and navigation
system. Source: Foryou

Foryou chose the QNX CAR platform after comprehensive testing of competing infotainment platforms, including open source solutions.

Established in September 2002, Foryou General Electronics is a subsidiary of Foryou Group Ltd., one of the top 100 electronic information enterprises of China. Its products are sold in more than 80 countries and regions worldwide; company sales were more than US$300 million in 2015.

For more information on this announcement, read the press release.

Jivin’ up the Jeep — then and now

Do Jeeps have a unique power to bring out the inner hacker in their owners? Based on the sheer number of Jeep kits on the market, I'd say yes.

Maybe it has something to do with the rough-and-ready, take-on-all-comers personality of the Jeep brand. Or maybe it has to do with the inherent flexibility of the Jeep design. Or maybe it's simply because the brand attracts self-reliant do-it-yourselfers. Whatever the explanation, the history of Jeep modding is almost as old as the Jeep itself.

Jivin' then...
For instance, here are some examples of "jivin' up the Jeep" from a 1947 issue of Mechanix Illustrated magazine. (I found these on blog.modernmechanix.com — you have got to check this site out.)






And jivin' now...
With a history like this, is it any wonder the QNX concept team also chose to mod a Jeep, albeit with 21st-century tech? For instance, they added their own digital instrument cluster:



and some apps:



not to mention a virtual mechanic:



And is it any wonder they had so much fun doing this?



Hey, do you plan on attending SAE Convergence in October? If so, come by the QNX booth (815) for an even closer look at how the QNX concept team jived up this Wrangler with the connectivity and personalization features of the QNX CAR application platform.

Highlights (er, mods) of the Wrangler include:

• Customizable HMI for reskinning and personalization
  
• Ability to download apps
  
• Multimedia: streaming radio, mobile connectivity, album art, etc
  
• One-touch Bluetooth pairing with NFC
  
• HD hands-free communication with conversational voice recognition
  
• Reconfigurable digital instrument cluster
  
• Tablet-based rear-seat entertainment
  
• HTML5 framework for leveraging mobile ecosystem
  

 

AUTOMOBILE More QNX-powered cars and infotainment systems from 2015 CES

The second installment in our CES Cars of Fame series. Today, we look at several systems from the 2015 CES event, starting with this week's inductee, a BMW Z4.

Paul Leroux

I've led you astray — sort of. Last week I stated that the LTE Connected Car, the first QNX-powered technology concept car, appeared at 2015 CES. But I didn't mention that QNX technology was at the core of several other innovative vehicles and infotainment systems at CES that year.

So let me set the record straight. And the best place to start is the QNX booth at 2015 CES, where a BMW Z4 roadster was the front-and-center attraction.

BMW Z4 Roadster with ConnectedDrive
The Z4 wasn't a technology concept car, but a true production car straight off the dealer lot. It was equipped with the QNX-based BMW ConnectedDrive system, which offers real-time traffic information, automatic emergency calling, and a text-to-speech feature that can read aloud emails, appointments, text messages, and other information from Bluetooth smartphones. It's a cool system right at home in this equally cool cockpit:



Heck, the whole car was cool, from the wheels up:



Audi A8 with Google Earth
Mind you, the coolness didn't stop at the QNX booth. Just down the hall, Audi showcased an A8 sedan equipped with the QNX-based 3G MMI infotainment system, featuring Google Earth. This same model drove home with the 2015 Edmunds Breakthrough Technology award a short while later.

I don't have any photos of the Audi from the CES show floor, but if you head over to the On Q blog, you can see some snaps from an automotive event that QNX hosted in Stuttgart two months earlier. The photos highlight the A8's innovative touchpad, which lets you input destination names by tracing them with your finger.

Toyota Entune infotainment system
And now to another award-winning QNX-based system. Toyota Entune embraces a simple, yet hard-to-achieve concept: help drivers interact with mobile content and applications in a non-distracting, handsfree fashion. For instance, if you are searching for a nearby restaurant, Entune lets you ask for it in a conversational fashion; no need for specific voice commands.

You could tell the judges for the CNET Best of CES awards were impressed, because they awarded Entune first prize, in the Car Tech category — the first of three QNX-powered systems to do. QNX Software Systems went on to win in 2015 for its QNX CAR Platform and then Chevy won in 2015 for its MyLink system. Not too shabby.

A cluster of clusters
We've looked at just three of the many QNX-based automotive systems showcased at 2015 CES. For instance, QNX also demonstrated digital instrument clusters built by Visteon for the Land Rover Range Rover and for the Jaguar XJ sedan, below:



Freescale, NVIDIA, TeleNav, and Texas Instruments also got into the act, demonstrating QNX systems in their booths and meeting areas.

Do you have any memories of 2015 CES? I'd love to hear them.

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 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:

---

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

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. :-)


 

AUTOMOBILE Listen to the music

The audio CD is on its last track... Internet radio, anyone?

I don’t think anyone will disagree with me when I say that music still represents the most important element in an infotainment system. Just look at the sound system capabilities in new cars. Base systems today have at least 6 speakers, while systems from luxury brands like Audi and BMW boast up to 16 speakers and almost 1000 watts of amplification.

For nearly as long as I can remember, cars have come with CD players. For many years they’ve provided a simple way to take your music on the road. But nothing lasts forever.

Earlier this year, Ford announced it would discontinue CD players in many of its vehicle models. Some industry pundits have predicted that CD players will have no place in cars in model year 2015 and beyond. A few weeks ago, Side-Line Music Magazine reported that major labels plan to abandon the CD format as early as 2015. This revelation has created a flurry of activity on the Net, but the labels have yet to confirm it’s true.

Steady decline
The fact is, CD sales have declined steadily for the last several years, down 16 percent in 2010 alone. Digital downloads (the legal kind), on the other hand, have been growing quickly and are expected to exceed CD sales for the first time in 2015.

Where does that leave us in the car? Obviously, media device integration will be key in the coming years. QNX Software Systems has long supported Apple iPod integration and supported Microsoft’s ill-fated Zune for a while. USB connectivity is a given, and soon you’ll be able to stream music from your phone.

Radio redefined

The QNX-powered Toyota Entune system 
supports both Pandora and iHeartRadio.

But what’s more exciting is how radio is evolving in the vehicle. Along with the steering wheel, radio has been a staple of car pretty much since day one. As the connected vehicle moves to the mainstream, internet radio will become a huge part of the automotive experience.

Companies like Slacker extend the concept of radio beyond audio to include artist bios, album art, photos, reviews, and more. Pandora, through its work with the Music Genome Project, expands the musical experience by playing songs it predicts you will appreciate. iHeartRadio aggregates American radio stations for replay throughout the US. TuneIn takes it one further with a global view. Driving down highway 101 in California, you’ll be able to tune in all your favorites from around the world.

Beyond entertainment
These services are changing the way people consume music. Today, I rely on my car radio not only to entertain but also to educate by constantly exposing me to new artists and content. Internet radio in the car will expand my horizons even further. And as online music stores like 7Digital integrate their service with the internet radio stations, I’ll be able to download the song I just heard at the push of a button. Not good for CD sales, but it seems that’s the way of the future anyway.

We are, of course, working with the leaders in internet radio and online music services to bring them to a car near you.

AUTOMOBILE A question of architecture

The second of a series on the QNX CAR Platform. In this installment, we start at the beginning — the platform’s underlying architecture.

In my previous post, I discussed how infotainment systems must perform multiple complex tasks, often all at once. At any time, a system may need to manage audio, show backup video, run 3D navigation, synch with Bluetooth devices, display smartphone content, run apps, present vehicle data, process voice signals, perform active noise control… the list goes on.

The job of integrating all these functions is no trivial task — an understatement if ever there was one. But as with any large project, starting with the right architecture, the right tools, and the right building blocks can make all the difference. With that in mind, let’s start at the beginning: the underlying architecture of the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment.

The architecture consists of three layers: human machine interface (HMI), middleware, and platform.



The HMI layer
The HMI layer is like a bonus pack: it supports two reference HMIs out of the box, both of which have the same appearance and functionality. So what’s the difference? One is based on HTML5, the other on Qt 5. This choice demonstrates the underlying flexibility of the platform, which allows developers to create an HMI with any of several technologies, including HTML5, Qt, or a third-party toolkit such as Elektrobit GUIDE or Crank Storyboard.

A choice of HMIs

Mind you, the choice goes further than that. When you build a sophisticated infotainment system, it soon becomes obvious that no single tool or technology can do the job. The home screen, which may contain controls for Internet radio, hands-free calls, HVAC, and other functions, might need an environment like Qt. The navigation app, for its part, will probably use OpenGL ES. Meanwhile, some applications might be based on Android or HTML5. Together, all these heterogeneous components make up the HMI.

The QNX CAR Platform embraces this heterogeneity, allowing developers to use the best tools and application environments for the job at hand. More to the point, it allows developers to blend multiple app technologies into a single, unified user interface, where they can all share the same display, at the same time.

To perform this blending, the platform employs several mechanisms, including a component called the graphical composition manager . This manager acts as a kind of universal framework, providing all applications, regardless of how they’re built, with a highly optimized path to the display.

For example, look at the following HMI:



Now look at the HMI from another angle to see how it comprises several components blended together by the composition manger:



To the left, you see video input from a connected media player or smartphone. To the right, you see a navigation application based on OpenGL ES map-rendering software, with an overlay of route metadata implemented in Qt. And below, you see an HTML page that provides the underlying wallpaper; this page could also display a system status bar and UI menu bar across all screens.

For each component rendered to the display, the graphical composition manager allocates a separate window and frame buffer. It also allows the developer to control the properties of each individual window, including location, transparency, rotation, alpha, brightness, and z-order. As a result, it becomes relatively straightforward to tile, overlap, or blend a variety of applications on the same screen, in whichever way creates the best user experience.

The middleware layer
The middleware layer provides applications with a rich assortment of services, including Bluetooth, multimedia discovery and playback, navigation, radio, and automatic speech recognition (ASR). The ASR component, for example, can be used to turn on the radio, initiate a Bluetooth phone call from a connected smartphone, or select a song by artist or song title.

I’ll drill down into several of these services in upcoming posts. For now, I’d like to focus on a fundamental service that greatly simplifies how all other services and applications in the system interact with one another. It’s called persistent/publish subscribe messaging, or PPS, and it provides the abstraction needed to cleanly separate high-level applications from low-level business logic and services.

PPS messaging provides an abstraction layer between system services and high-level applications

Let’s rewind a minute. To implement communications between software components, C/C++ developers must typically define direct, point-to-point connections that tend to “break” when new features or requirements are introduced. For instance, an application communicates with a navigation engine, but all connections enabling that communication must be redefined when the system is updated with a different engine.

This fragility might be acceptable in a relatively simple system, but it creates a real bottleneck when you are developing something as complex, dynamic, and quickly evolving as the design for a modern infotainment system. PPS addresses the problem by allowing developers to create loose, flexible connections between components. As a result, it becomes much easier to add, remove, or replace components without having to modify other components.

So what, exactly, is PPS? Here’s a textbook answer: an asynchronous object-based system that consists of publishers and subscribers, where publishers modify the properties of data objects and the subscribers to those objects receive updates when the objects have been modified.

So what does that mean? Well, in a car, PPS data objects allow applications to access services such as the multimedia engine, voice recognition engine, vehicle buses, connected smartphones, hands-free calling, and contact databases. These data objects can each contain multiple attributes, each attribute providing access to a specific feature — such as the RPM of the engine, the level of brake fluid, or the frequency of the current radio station. System services publish these objects and modify their attributes; other programs can then subscribe to the objects and receive updates whenever the attributes change.

The PPS service is programming-language independent, allowing programs written in a variety of programming languages (C, C++, HTML5, Java, JavaScript, etc.) to intercommunicate, without any special knowledge of one another. Thus, an app in a high-level environment like HTML5 can easily access services provided by a device driver or other low-level service written in C or C++.

I’m only touching on the capabilities of PPS. To learn more, check out the QNX documentation on this service.

The platform layer
The platform layer includes the QNX OS and the board support packages, or BSPs, that allow the OS to run on various hardware platforms.

An inherently modular and extensible architecture

A BSP may not sound like the sexiest thing in the world — it is, admittedly, a deeply technical piece of software — but without it, nothing else works. And, in fact, one reason QNX Software Systems has such a strong presence in automotive is that it provides BSPs for all the popular infotainment platforms from companies like Freescale, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments.

As for the QNX Neutrino OS, you could write a book about it — which is another way of saying it’s far beyond the scope of this post. Suffice it to say that its modularity, extensibility, reliability, and performance set the tone for the entire QNX CAR Platform. To get a feel for what the QNX OS brings to the platform (and by extension, to the automotive industry), I invite you to visit the QNX Neutrino OS page on the QNX website.

AUTOMOBILE The lost concept car photos

Have you ever rummaged through old boxes in your basement and discovered family photos you had totally forgotten about — or never knew existed? I experienced a moment like that a couple of weeks ago. Except, in this case, no basement was involved. And the box wasn't a box, but a shared drive. And the photos weren't of my family, but of cars. QNX technology concept cars, to be exact.

At least once a year, the QNX concept team retrofits a new vehicle to demonstrate how our technology can help auto companies push the envelope in connectivity, infotainment, and acoustics. And, in every case, we take pictures — sometimes, lots of them. Inevitably, we end up choosing a few images for publicity purposes and filing the others. But as I discovered, the images we don't use are often just as good as the ones we do use. We just don't need all of them!

In any case, stumbling across these photos was great fun. I thought you might enjoy them, too, so here goes...

The Porsche
First up is the QNX technology concept car based on a Porsche 911, which made its debut at 2015 CES. We had originally planned to drive the car back to Ottawa once CES was over — but that was before we spoke to our friends at Texas Instruments, who provided the silicon for the car's instrument cluster and infotainment system. They liked the car so much, they asked if we could bring it to their HQ in Dallas, where the following two photos were taken. All I can say is, Dallas is home to at least one awesome cool photographer. Because rather than curse the crazy lighting, the photographer used it to create some playful compositions:





If you look below, you'll see another shot of the Porsche, taken just before we shipped it off to CES. The image really doesn't belong in this collection, as it appeared once on a partner website. But it's rare nonetheless, so I decided to include it. And besides, it's cool. Literally.



Did you know? The original Porsche 911, which debuted in the early 60s, was dubbed the 901. Problem was, Peugeot had exclusive rights in France to three-digit car names with a 0 in the middle. And so, the 901 became the 911.

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The Bentley
Next up is the QNX technology concept car based on a Bentley Continental GT. In this image, the driver is interacting with the center stack's main control knob, which was mounted directly on a 17" touchscreen. See the row of icons just above the knob? These represented HVAC, music, navigation, hands-free calling and other system functions. The  system would automatically display these icons as your hand approached the display; you would then turn the knob to choose the function you wanted. (This image was taken by a BlackBerry employee, whose name I have most ungraciously forgotten.)



As with our all concept vehicles, the intent was to showcase the technology that we had built into the car's dashboard and center stack. Which probably explains why the following image of the car's exterior was never published. Pity, as it's quite lovely — a classic case of flare adding flair.



Did you know? Those wheels aren't just for show. The Bentley comes equipped with a 616 hp W12 engine (yup, three banks of cylinders) that can do 0-60 mph in a little over 4 seconds — it took me way longer than that to type this sentence.

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The Jeep
Next up is the Jeep Wrangler, which serves as the QNX reference vehicle. The Jeep plays a different role than the other vehicles highlighted here: instead of demonstrating how QNX technology can help automotive companies innovate, it shows what the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment can do right out of the box. In this image, you can see the vehicle's main navigation menu:



Did you know? The original infotainment system in the reference vehicle could post Facebook updates that listed the title and artist of the song currently playing. The system performed this magic in response to simple voice commands.

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The Vette
The QNX technology concept car based on a Chevrolet Corvette made its debut at SAE Convergence 2010. Among other things, it showed how digital instrument clusters can morph on the fly to provide drivers with context-sensitive information, such as turn-by-turn directions. You can see a slicker, more sophisticated approach to reconfigurable clusters in our most recent technology concept car based on a Mercedes CLA45.



Did you know? We used the Corvette to demonstrate how QNX technology enables automotive companies to create customizable, reskinnable user interfaces. Check out this post on the Corvette's 30-day UI challenge.

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The Prius
The first QNX-powered technology concept car was a digitally modded Prius — aka the LTE Connected Car. The car was a joint project of several companies, including QNX and Alcatel-Lucent, who wanted to demonstrate how 4G/LTE networks could transform the driving experience with a host of new in-vehicle applications.

Here's the car with a very proud-looking Derek Kuhn, who spearheaded the LTE Connected Car project while serving as a VP at Alcatel-Lucent. Derek subequently joined QNX as VP of sales and marketing:



Did you know? When this car was created, telecom companies had yet to light up their first commercial LTE towers. Also, the car had more infotainment systems than any other QNX technology concept car: two in the front (one for the driver and one for the front-seat passenger) and two in the back.

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Some things get lost, albeit temporarily. And some you just never see again. Fortunately, all these images belong to the first category. Any favorites?