QNX CAR Takes Home Adobe MAX Award

We won! We won! We freakin' won!!!

Sorry... I just had to get that out of my system. A few minutes ago, the Adobe twitter stream revealed that the QNX CAR application platform has won the Adobe MAX Award (mobile category) for its innovative use of Adobe Flash technology.

I've already blogged a couple of times (see here and here) on why QNX CAR's implementation of Adobe Flash is a game changer not only for car makers and car drivers, but also for the worldwide Flash developer community — so I won't bore you with the details once again.

Instead, allow me to congratulate everyone at QNX who has helped make the QNX CAR application platform such a success. And kudos to Adobe and to the Adobe Flash community for recognizing QNX CAR as the next big platform for distributing Adobe Flash content, applications, and video.

p.s. If the QNX webmaster is reading this, time to update the QNX trophy case.

QNX celebrates 10 years in the auto business

I knew I was forgetting something, but couldn't put my finger on it. Then I remembered: September marked the 10th anniversary of QNX's entry into the automotive business.

In fact, September 14 is something of an official anniversary. On that day in 1999, Motorola unveiled mobileGT, an automotive reference platform based on the QNX Neutrino RTOS. For the first time, QNX publicly threw its hat into the automotive ring.

Being the (somewhat organized) pack rat that I am, it took only a few minutes to dig into my archives and find the announcement. Click to enlarge:



Now here's the thing. The Motorola unit responsible for mobileGT no longer exists. The IBM unit responsible for the Java layer no longer exists. Embedded Planet, if I remember correctly, eventually morphed into another company.

QNX, on the other hand, has not only survived, but managed to thrive in the automotive marketplace. A decade later, it has licensed its software for more than 10 million vehicle systems and built a customer list that starts with Audi and ends with Volkswagen — with precious few blanks in between.

I'm a longtime QNX employee — and a marketing guy to boot — so if I attempt to explain why this is so, you'll hear all the expected platitudes. So I won't even try.

Besides, 10 years of constant growth in the automotive business speaks for itself.

New car infotainment system gears up with QNX middleware

Recently, I blogged on some way cool infotainment systems for Mercedes and BMW vehicles. But if you’re anything like me (read “cheap”), the car you drive is smaller than an S-Class and humbler than a Z4 — and much less expensive than either. In my case, it's an 8-year old Neon.

Now, I have no plans to replace the Neon anytime soon. In fact, I still rather like it. But it would be nice to think that, when I do buy a new car, it will offer some of the same infotainment goodies as a Mercedes, but without the attendant sticker shock.

Enter a new, scalable infotainment platform from Harman International. Based on the QNX Neutrino RTOS, the platform “fulfills a commitment to modularize our infotainment expertise,” says Harman CEO Dinesh Paliwal.

Translation: Automakers can mix and match a number of pre-integrated and pre-tested modules to address a range of price points. High-end cars can include all or most of the modules, while Neon-class cars can include a subset.

Using QNX middleware, the system works with a variety of storage devices (iPods, thumb drives, CDs/DVDs, etc.); offers Internet radio and other Cloud-based applications; and provides a dynamic user interface. From what I can tell, the UI offers a mix of 2D/3D Flash and OpenGL ES graphics.

The system signals a new market direction for Harman, which has traditionally positioned itself as a premium brand. It will be interesting to see how it maintains its luxury-car leadership while targeting a much larger cross section of vehicles and end-customers.

Stop reading this and vote for QNX CAR

Last week, I told you that the QNX CAR application platform has been shortlisted for an Adobe MAX award.

Well, guess what: It's time to do something about it. Here's what I'd like you to do:

1. Stop reading this blog (temporarily, of course)
2. Point your browser to http://max.adobe.com/awards/finalists/
3. Scroll down to the Mobile category and click on Vote when you see this:

If you're still reading this blog (didn't I tell you to stop doing that?), you undoubtedly remain unconvinced. Why, you ask, should you vote for QNX CAR?

Because QNX CAR is doing something that has never been done before: Putting Flash in the driver's seat. In fact, several automakers and automotive suppliers are already using the QNX CAR platform to create Flash-based instrument clusters and infotainment systems.

So what, you say? Well, just think how this will transform the driving experience. Allow me to quote a press release that QNX issued yesterday:

"Imagine a dashboard that reconfigures itself for each driver, or a car infotainment system that tells you where your friends are, or that points you to the nearest gas station when it notices you are running low on fuel — that’s the kind of user experience the QNX CAR application platform is making possible...”

If that's the kind of car you'd like to drive, then, for the last time, stop reading this blog and vote for QNX CAR.

A blog(ger) is born

All I can say, it's about time. I've worked with Andy Gryc for a couple of years now, and I was hoping he'd get off his (admittedly busy) keester and start blogging. Because, frankly, he has interesting things to say. Some of them are even important.

So I am (delighted? happy? pumped? I'm still working on the exact emotion) that Andy has finally launched a blog, entitled True Gryc. Do yourself a favor and subscribe to it.

But don't go just yet. There's another blogger you ought to follow: Andrew Poliak. Honestly, if I knew 10% of what Andrew knows about the in-car telematics and infotainment market, I'd hang up a shingle and promote myself as a big-buck industry analyst.

So take the extra minute and subscribe to Andrew's blog as well -- I'll think you'll enjoy his recent post on how a toilet tanked his patent idea for a twittering car.

QNX to drive first Intel Atom-based car infotainment systems

This morning, at the Intel Developer Forum, Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced that the BMW 7 series and Mercedes S- and C-class cars will be the first to ship with in-car infotainment systems based on Intel Atom processors. And, according to the online magazine apc, the systems will run the QNX Neutrino RTOS.

A few days ago, I mentioned that Mercedes will use a QNX-based infotainment system in their upcoming S- and C-Class models; I believe this is the very same system that Paul Otellini highlighted in this morning's keynote. In that blog post, I mentioned that no photos of the system were yet available; it looks like that is still true. According to apc, this is the only image that has been provided... I believe the blurring is intentional. :-)



BTW, the QNX Neutrino RTOS offers some pretty cool fast booting capabilities on Intel Atom processors -- one reason, no doubt, that QNX was chosen for the Mercedes and BMW systems. Click here for some fast boot videos.

Linux is huge, scary, bloated: Torvalds

You've got to hand it to Linus Torvalds, he's never been afraid to speak his mind. Even when it comes to his own baby.

Speaking yesterday at LinuxCon, he stated that the Linux kernel has become "huge and scary" and that it isn't "the streamlined, hyper-efficient kernel I envisioned when I started writing Linux."

Asked whether a solution was in the works, he commented, "I'd love to say we have a plan."

You gotta admit, the guy is honest.

Predictably, his comments have ignited discussions on several forums, including Slashdot, CNET, and OSNews.