QNX announces new wireless and medical solutions at Embedded World

A QNX-based patient-monitoring
demo, demonstrated this week
at Embedded World

This just in: QNX issued two announcements today, one focused on helping developers build wireless connectivity into embedded devices, the other focused on helping medical device manufacturers build products that must pass regulatory approval.

Wireless solutions — QNX has struck up preferred partnerships with LS Research and Silex Technology to develop pre-validated solutions based on ARM-based connectivity modules. Initial implementations will include the LS Research COM6L-BLE wireless evaluation module, which uses TI WL1271L silicon, and Silex wireless modules, which use the Qualcomm Atheros AR6003 Wi-Fi chip. QNX will provide first-line technical support to help customers speed up product design and commercialization. Read the press release.

OS for medical devices — QNX has also announced the upcoming QNX Neutrino Realtime Operating System for medical devices, which will comply with the IEC 62304 medical device standard for software life cycle processes. To further help medical-device manufacturers, QNX has introduced on-site audits, proven-in-use data, training courses on designing dependable systems, and assistance to meet compliancy requirements. Read the press release.

Both announcements coincide with the Embedded World congress in Nuremburg, where QNX Software Systems is exhibiting its latest products and delivering talks on in-field debugging, realtime scheduling, and publish/subscribe messaging.
 

Porsche 911 concept car makes debut at Mobile World Congress

Here's another opportunity to see the Porsche 911 Carrera concept car in action. This time, it's from the floor of Mobile World Congress, where Derek Kuhn, QNX's VP of marketing, takes us on a tour of the car's coolest features.

Highlights include one-touch phone pairing, BlackBerry PlayBook integration, distributed media playback, high-def handsfree calls, and a dynamically reconfigurable digital instrument cluster. Roll the tape...


 

I'm downloading BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0

If you have a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, join me! And if you haven't seen the announcement yet, check out the press release. It contains lots of useful links and info, including a link to how-to videos.

New features include an integrated email client with a unified inbox, a built-in calendar that harnesses information from social networks, an updated BlackBerry Bridge app, and lotsa new apps and content.

Sorry, gotta go: Download is almost finished. :-)
 

Vector's software testing tools now support QNX Neutrino RTOS Certified Plus

Learn how you can become
eligible to win this cool T-shirt

This just in: Vector Software, a provider of software tools for testing safety-critical embedded applications, has announced that its VectorCast suite now supports QNX Neutrino RTOS Certified Plus, an OS that combines the benefits of the QNX Neutrino RTOS Safe Kernel and the QNX Neutrino RTOS Secure Kernel.

According to the press release, the "The VectorCAST product suite has supported the QNX Neutrino RTOS since 2009... this latest integration helps our customers accelerate time-to-market by streamlining product planning, design, and validation."

QNX Neutrino RTOS Certified Plus offers both IEC 61508 certification at Safety Integrity Level 3 (SIL 3) and Common Criteria ISO/IEC 15408 certification at Evaluation Assurance Level 4+ (EAL 4+). Its certification credentials — combined with its microkernel architecture, POSIX-compliant API, and adaptive partitioning technology — make Certified Plus well-suited to systems that have both functional safety and security requirements.

To read Vector's press release, click here.
 

Multicore webinar coming to a screen near you

If you're developing software for an embedded system equipped with a multicore processor, have we got a webinar for you.

On Wednesday, February 15, the "two Jeffs" — Jeff Schaffer of QNX and and Jeff Logan of Freescale — will present a webinar on achieving maximum performance on multicore chips. Topics include threading models for creating multiple concurrent tasks, design patterns for increasing parallelism, and techniques for optimizing cache usage.

Did I mention? If you attend the live webinar, you'll be eligible to win a QorIQ P2020RDB-PCA reference design board through Arrow Electronics. Cool, that.

So what are you waiting for? Click the link and register. The webinar happens Wednesday February 15, at 2:00 p.m. EST.
 

Visit the (now much spiffier) QNX YouTube channel

Better yet, subscribe! That way, you can catch the latest QNX videos as they're posted, such as the recent HTML5 interview with GM OnStar's Steve Schwinke. (Of course, I'll always provide you with timely updates on the latest QNX videos, but why not double your chances of seeing them before they come out on DVD?)

To subscribe to QNXcam on YouTube, click here, then click the subscribe button at the top of the page.


 

Omigosh, I forgot the OnStar interview

If you follow this blog, you'll know that QNX has published a series of video interviews on how HTML5 promises to transform in-car infotainment systems.

Well, earlier this morning, the QNX automotive social media team put out a tweet, asking people to vote for which video they liked best. Someone voted for the interview with OnStar's Steve Schwinke — at which point I remembered that I've never linked to it from this blog. Quelle horreur!

So without further ado...



By the way, if you wish to tweet for *your* favorite HTML5 video from QNX, remember
to use the #HTML5auto hashtag.
 

New webinar: Pimp your ride with FOTA

Okay, I'll admit it: That isn't the real title of the webinar. It's actually called "Keep Connected Cars Up to Date with FOTA (Firmware Over-the-Air) Technology," and it's for anyone building in-car infotainment or telematics systems.

If you use a device like the BlackBerry PlayBook, you're already familiar with the benefits of FOTA, which allows device makers to deliver new software features or improvements, with little or no effort on the part of the end-user. From the user's point of view, the device simply works better or offers shiny new features.

In the automotive domain, FOTA provides a critical role in avoiding obsolescence. An in-car infotainment system might be super cool today, but can become super outdated in just 2 or 3 years. Imagine, for instance, if your infotainment system had smartphone connectivity, but could only talk to smartphones that shipped before 2010. FOTA, along with good system design, offers a way to avoid this problem and to keep infotainment systems fresh with new features and services — and, not incidentally, to keep car owners happy about their purchase.

But enough from me. Better to learn about FOTA from the experts, including Yoram Berholtz from Red Bend Software (an industry leader in FOTA) and my inimitable colleague Andy Gryc. To that end, I invite you to register for the webinar; it just takes a few seconds:

Wednesday, February 8, 2012
2:00 p.m. EST
1 hour
Details and registration

And while you're at it, check out Andy's article on the Red Bend website, Fill the Tank, Check the Oil, and Update the Software.