Japan's high-tech innovations take on natural disasters

Guest post by my inimitable colleague Noko Kataoka.

Noko Kataoka

When I’m talking to my family in Japan, the conversation often turns to the weather. Not because we have nothing else to talk about, but because the weather is such a serious subject in their region. They experience heavy rainstorms in early summer (followed by scorching heat that lasts for over two months), ferocious typhoons in the fall, and blizzards in the winter that can drop up to 50 cm of snow overnight. Every time I hear a severe weather report I need to call my family and make sure they’re okay.

And, of course, Japan is known for its earthquakes. The country is still working to recover from the “311” (March 11, 2011) disaster, one of the worst earthquakes and tsunamis in history, which killed more than 18,000 people. The country has had to put a lot of thought into how more lives could be saved when Mother Nature chooses to strike again.

Logo of the
Saigai Taisaku Expo

The good news is, Japanese people are very good at advancing technology to address their unique environment. Government agencies and businesses work together on innovative ways to respond to environmental challenges. The country even has tradeshows dedicated to technologies for coping with natural disasters. For instance, the Saigai Taisaku Expo (Disaster Response Expo) showcased many ingenious solutions this year — from highly sophisticated portable toilets for evacuation camps to smartphone apps for earthquake warnings. Here are some solutions that I found interesting:

• An unmanned airplane for establishing radio communications in isolated communities that have suffered infrastructure damage.
   
• A helmet loaded with a head-lamp, radio, earthquake sensor, and wireless communications unit. The helmet not only protects you from physical shocks but also sends emergency messages for safety confirmation, evacuation guidance, and more.
   
• An earthquake estimator that uses earthquake forecast information issued by the Japan meteorological agency to estimate the magnitude of an imminent quake and how long before the shock hits. It can be integrated with public broadcasting systems or digital signage to guide people to safety.
   
• A smartphone navigation app especially designed for natural disaster situations. Using information from GPS and camera, the app displays directions for designated evacuation areas.
   
• An unmanned 3D radar system for estimating damage to buildings. Okay, your building is still standing after a big earthquake — but how do you know if it’s safe to go in?
   
• A public information system that consolidates and manages big data collected by the crisis management information center. In the state of emergency, people can access to emergency-response information they need from their mobile devices.
   

It is particularly interesting to see how new innovations are made possible by technologies such as smartphones and cloud connectivity. We have little immediate influence on how Mother Nature behaves, but people can engineer solutions to help survive natural disasters. And with global climate change causing unexpected weather across the planet, Japan’s innovations in connected systems for environmental challenges may prove useful in other parts of the world, too.

New release of QNX OS closes UX gap between smartphones and embedded systems

Okay, this one is going to be short. I'd love to have you stay, but I'd like it even more if you jumped to the QNX website. Because if you do, you'll get the full skinny on a significant new OS release that QNX Software Systems announced this morning.

But before you go, the back story. Mobile devices (think smartphones) have transformed what people expect of embedded systems (think gas pumps, vending machines, heart monitors, or just about any other device with a user interface). Every time someone uses a smartphone or tablet, they become more conditioned to the user experience it delivers. And the more conditioned they become, they more they expect a similar experience in other systems they use. It's human nature, plain and simple.

People who create embedded devices get this. They know that, to succeed, they must up their UX game. The problem is, a gap has existed between the user experiences that embedded operating systems can support and the user experiences that people want. The latest generation of the QNX Neutrino OS, version 6.6, addresses that gap. And it does so by introducing a new and potent mix of graphics, security, multimedia, security, and power management capabilities.

And just what are those capabilities? You'll have to jump to the press release to find out. :-)


The QNX SDK for Apps & Media — one of many significant new features
in the latest release of the QNX OS.

Space-grade technology... in the palm of your hand

What does your phone have in common with planes, trains, automobiles, and space stations? If it's a BlackBerry 10 smartphone, plenty.

When you pick up a BlackBerry Z10 or BlackBerry Q10 phone, you are tapping into OS technology like no other. Technology that hospitals use to defeat cancer. Technology that power plants use to create energy. Technology that skyscrapers use to save energy. Technology that movie studios use to create mind-blowing special effects. And technology that calls for help if your car gets into an accident. In short, technology that makes a difference in my life, your life, everyone's life.

But enough from me. Especially when the video says it so much better...

Self-baking NAND flash memory promises to last longer — way longer

Don't get too excited, as no one is talking commercial availability just yet. But a memory manufacturer has developed a way to make NAND flash last more than 1000 times longer than it does today.

Let's rewind a minute. Each memory "cell" in conventional NAND flash has a limited number of program/erase (PE) cycles. Even a read operation weakens the charge that maintains the data bits. As a result, the NAND cells in your notebook, smartphone, thumb drive, or tablet can often handle only a few thousand PE cycles before they start losing bits. And who wants to lose bits?

Enter Macronix. Using a technique that briefly heats individual cells to 800C (yes, hotter than your kitchen stove), their innovative new NAND flash technology can handle 100 million PE cycles.

I must admit, my first reaction was "so what?". People go through mobile devices like potato chips, so do they really need flash memory that keeps running year after year? But then I thought, what if you're embedding flash in a car that might be on the road for 15 years? Or in an industrial control system that might be deployed once and never replaced? (The QNX OS can be found in industrial systems that have run for 15 or 20 years without a hardware upgrade, so this isn't an academic question.)

There's another reason why this is welcome news. As process size shrinks, so does the usable life of NAND flash. The new technology from Macronix may enable our future devices to offer much more memory, without the downside of a short lifespan.

I'm not an expert on flash memory, so please comment if you have further insight as to how this new technology could benefit future devices.

For more on this development, see the articles on Ars Technica and ExtremeTech.

QNX unveils new reference vehicle with Facebook integration and re-skinnable dash

Your ride is about to get personal.

Early this morning, QNX took the wraps off its new reference vehicle, a specially modified Jeep Wrangler — think of it as a software reference design on wheels.

The Jeep offers an example of how developers can use the QNX CAR 2 platform to build digital instrument clusters and infotainment systems, using standard technologies like OpenGL ES and HTML5. In particular, it shows how the platform can help in-car systems become both personalizeable and social-media savvy.

For instance, the Jeep includes:

a re-skinnable digital instrument cluster

a re-skinnable infotainment system

Facebook integration, controlled by voice commands

integration with a variety of popular smartphones

an HTML5 framework

one-touch pairing with Bluetooth smartphones using NFC

high-definition hands-free audio

tablet-based rear-seat entertainment

a virtual mechanic

text-to-speech and natural speech recognition

The list goes on. For a quick pictorial guide to the Jeep, check out my post on the QNX auto blog. And for more details, read the press releases QNX issued this morning on the Jeep's personalization and Facebook features.

Speaking of Facebook, you can find even more photos of the Jeep on the QNX Facebook page, where you can also see status updates posted by the Jeep itself. (BTW, my marketing colleagues tell me to tell you to "like" the page. So be a dear and hit the Like button... pretty please?)


A view of the Jeep's head unit. See more photos on the QNX auto blog.
 

Phonedog connects with QNX concept car at BlackBerry World 2012

If you aren't at BlackBerry World this week, you're missing out. For starters, you won't get to see what, in my biased opinion, is the world's coolest car: the QNX-powered and very connected Porsche 911.

But not all is lost. You can still watch this video from Sydney Myers of PhoneDog.com, who caught with up with Mike Shane of QNX for a tour of the car's features — from instant smartphone pairing and off-board navigation to handsfree calling with HD stereo. Check it out:



My favorite part? When the text overlay on the video shouts out "The audio quality was REALLY good." Got that right.

And did I mention? Mike is one of the super-talented people who built the concept car. He's a keeper.

This post also appeared on the QNX auto blog.
 

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...


 

(Yet) another video of the QNX concept car

I've already shared some videos of the new QNX concept car, which made its debut last week at 2012 CES. Here's another video of the car, from the Inside BlackBerry team, that is worth a watch.

Among other things, the video shows how the car can quickly pair with a Bluetooth phone, via NFC. It also shows how the head unit can seamlessly control the backseat tablets. Check it out:



Related posts:

• New CNET video takes you on guided tour of QNX concept car
  
• New QNX concept car is "on the verge"
  
• QNX drives home with a Best of CES award

 

New QNX concept car is "on the verge"

Yesterday, I treated you to an excellent video of the QNX concept car, taken by CNET reporter Antuan Goodwin. Well sit back down, because I've got another video that runs through even more of the car's features.

The new video features Jacob Schulman, a reporter for The Verge, and my inestimable colleague Justin Moon. Highlights include instant phone pairing; multi-node media control and playback; text-to-voice for email and text messages; high-def stereo hands-free calls; and voice control of the digital instrument cluster.


 

New CNET video takes you on guided tour of QNX concept car

This just in: Antuan Goodwin of CNET has posted a video walkthrough of the new QNX concept car, which showcases the many capabilities of the QNX CAR 2 application platform.

Antuan touches on all of the car's salient features, including one-touch smartphone integration, backseat entertainment, video streaming, rich app support, ultra HD voice technology, and the reconfigurable digital instrument cluster. Check it out:


 

CrackBerry posts first peek at OnStar RemoteLink for BlackBerry PlayBook

This morning at CES, CrackBerry.com met up with QNX's Andrew Poliak for a walkthrough of the new OnStar RemoteLink app for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

If you aren't familiar with RemoteLink, it provides a very cool and powerful connection to OnStar-equipped vehicles. From the convenience of your tablet or phone, you can access gas mileage, tire pressure, and other information in real time; you can even remotely start your vehicle and unlock its doors.

Cooler yet, the new version running on the PlayBook boasts a user interface built entirely in HTML5. But enough blather from me. Roll the tape...



Did you know? QNX is the core OS for the PlayBook, but it's also the OS for OnStar and OnStar FMW.

This post originally appeared on the QNX auto blog.
 

Sneak preview of new QNX concept car!

A few minutes ago, QNX announced a new concept car, which it will showcase this week at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. Mind you, this isn't the company's first concept car. It has already created a couple of them, including a specially modified Chevrolet Corvette. If you ask me, the QNX concept team did a pretty cool job with the Vette. But this time, they went cooler.

Way cooler.

The new car, based on a Porsche Carrera, comes equipped with an array of features, including one-touch smartphone pairing, tablet-based rear-seat entertainment, high-definition hands-free calls, and a reconfigurable digital instrument cluster. But hey, you can read all that in the press release! So instead, let's take a virtual tour of the car, using some of the first available photos...

The door
To get started, hop into the driver's seat — but before you do, note the QNX logo deftly emblazoned on the driver-side door:



The cluster
Once you get behind the wheel, the first thing you'll see is the digital instrument cluster:



It's too bad I don't (yet) have a video of the cluster. Because if I did, you'd see how it can dynamically reconfigure itself — in response to voice commands, no less. It even communicates with the navigation system to display turn-by-turn directions. Cool, that.

The head unit
Now look to your right, and you'll see the head unit. Here is the unit's main screen, from which you can access all of the system's key functions:



And here's another screen, showing the system's media player:



The tablet integration
Now, I know you're just getting comfortable, but let's step out and take a bird's-eye view of the car. As you can see, it comes equipped with two BlackBerry PlayBook tablets to demonstrate backseat entertainment. But what you can't see is the very cool integration between the tablets and the head unit. For instance, the head unit provides front-seat control of the backseat entertainment — great for when you want to control what your kids are watching or listening to. Better yet, any device can play videos and music stored on any other device. The head unit, for example, could play what's stored on the right tablet, or vice versa. And it all happens seamlessly.



The cool stuff you can't see
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but these photos don't capture everything. For instance, the car also features:

One-touch Bluetooth pairing — Lets you pair a phone to the car simply by touching the phone to the car's NFC reader; no complicated menus to wade through

Conversational voice recognition — Lets you enter navigation destinations naturally, without having to use artificially constrained grammars

Text-to-speech integration — Can read aloud incoming email, SMS, or BBM messages

Ultra HD voice technology — Uses 48KHz full stereo bandwidth for clearer, better-sounding hands-free calls

The car also runs a ton of applications, including TCS hybrid navigation, Vlingo voice-to-text, Poynt virtual assistant, Weather Network, and streaming Internet radio from Pandora, NoBex, Slacker, and TuneIn.

The point
The point of the concept car isn't just to be cool, but to show automakers (and everyone else, for that matter) what's possible in next-gen car infotainment systems. More to the point, the car is designed to showcase the new QNX CAR 2 application platform, which introduces a new HTML5 framework to help automakers "keep their vehicles fresh with new content and features, address consumer demands for the latest mobile apps and services, and leverage a huge developer community." I'm quoting from the QNX CAR 2 press release, which also hit the newswire today. You can read it here.

The rest of the week
I expect the car will garner a fair amount of media coverage, so stay tuned: I'll post links as the week progresses. And while you're at it, subscribe to the QNX auto blog, which will also discuss what QNX is doing this week at CES.
 

QNX-powered OnStar FMV drives home with CES innovation award

This just in: The OnStar FMV aftermarket mirror, which brings the safety and security features of OnStar to non-GM vehicles, has won a coveted CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award.

To clinch this award, a product must impress an independent panel of industrial designers, engineers, and trade journalists. Speaking of impressions, it seems that OnStar FMV also made a hit with the folks at CNET, because they've chosen it as one of their Top Holiday Shopping Picks for 2011.

If you haven't already guessed, OnStar FMV uses QNX Neutrino as its OS platform. It also uses the QNX acoustic processing suite, which filters out noise and echo to make hands-free conversations clear and easy to follow. The suite includes cool features like bandwidth extension, which extends the narrow-band hands-free signal frequency range to deliver speech that is warm and natural, as well as intelligible.

Have time for a video? If so, here's a fun look at FMV's features, including stolen vehicle recovery, automatic crash response, turn-by-turn navigation, hands-free calling, and one-touch emergency calling:



This post originally appeared in the QNX auto blog.
 

Some people drive me to distraction

Hey, have you ever panned your camera? It's really easy: You just track a moving subject with your camera and then squeeze the shutter while both you and the subject are in motion. It's a great technique for creating images that evoke a sense of speed, which makes it popular among photographers for Motor Trend, Car and Driver, and other automotive magazines.

When you pan, you never really know what kind of image you're going to get. Often, the results are interesting. And sometimes, they're downright interesting. Take this shot, for example:



Now, holding a cellphone while rocketing down the highway is just plain wrong. To anyone who does it, I have one thing to say: "You're endangering other people's lives for the sake of a f***ing phone call. Where the hell do you get off doing that?"

But look at this guy. He's isn't holding a phone, but a coffee — even worse. Just imagine if he gets into a situation that demands quick, evasive action. He will, in all likelihood, hold on to the cup for fear of burning himself. Whereas if he had a phone, he would simply drop it and put his hand back on the wheel.

Admittedly, I have no data to prove that coffee cups pose a greater evil than cellphones. But the core issue remains: Cellphone use is just one of many factors that contribute to driver distraction. In fact, research suggests that cellphones account for only 5% of distraction-related accidents that end in injury.

So, even if every cellphone on the planet disappeared tomorrow, we would still have a massive problem on our hands. To that end, my colleagues Scott Pennock and Andy Gryc suggest a new approach to designing vehicle cockpit systems in their paper, "Situational Awareness: a Holistic Approach to the Driver Distraction Problem."

The paper explores how system designers can use the concept of situational awareness to develop a vehicle cockpit that helps the driver become more aware of objects and events on the road, and that adapts in-vehicle user interfaces to manage the driver’s cognitive load.

It's worth a read. And who knows, perhaps someone, someday, will develop a cockpit system that detects if you are sipping something and tells you what you need to hear: "Dammit Jack, put that cup down. It's not worth endangering other people's lives for the sake of a f***ing latté."

This post originally appeared in the QNX auto blog.
 

Can the car, cloud, and smartphone be integrated more successfully?

Lots of people use the phrase "connected car," but what does it really mean? What, exactly, is connected, and what is it connected to?

In the past, my QNX colleagues referred to four types of automotive connectivity:

• Connectivity to phones and other mobile devices — for handsfree calling and for accessing music and other media
   
• Connectivity to the cloud — for accessing off-board navigation, voice recognition, etc
   
• Connectivity within the car — for sharing information and applications between systems, such as the instrument cluster and the head unit
   
• Connectivity around the car — for providing the driver with feedback about the surrounding environment

Problem is, the distinction between the first two categories is becoming progressively softer. As my colleague Kerry Johnson argues, if your car connects to a smartphone that draws information from the cloud, can you really distinguish between mobile-device connectivity and cloud connectivity?

Mind you, making such distinctions is of secondary importance. The real issue is whether we can integrate the car, cloud, and smartphone much more successfully. Can we, using widely accessible technologies, harness their combined power to deliver a significantly better driving experience?

This is just one of the issues that Kerry addresses in his new blog post, which you can read here. If you're interested in the future of the connected car, check it out.
 

QNX OS powers OnStar FMV aftermarket mirror

This just in: QNX Software Systems has announced that Onstar's aftermarket rearview mirror, dubbed the OnStar FMV, is based on the QNX OS.

The premise of the FMV of simple: Bring the safety and security features of OnStar to non-GM vehicles. These features include automatic crash response, turn-by-turn navigation, hands-free calling, stolen vehicle recovery, and one-touch emergency calling.

The FMV also uses the QNX acoustic processing suite, which filters out noise and echo to improve the quality of hands-free calls. The suite eliminates the lengthy tuning process required by conventional solutions, as well as the need for dedicated acoustic processing hardware. Or as my marketing friends would say, it saves time and money.

To read the press release, click here.

If you have time for a video, here's a commercial promoting the FMV's stolen vehicle recovery feature. It's a clever piece of advertising: You never actually see the FMV or the car it helped recover. The focus is strictly on the user and how the FMW saves her day (and, apparently, a pair of shoes):


 

Pimp your ride with FOTA

If you use a device like the BlackBerry PlayBook, you're already familiar with the notion, and benefits, of FOTA. In case you're wondering, that's short for Firmware Over The Air. (Still confused? Simply insert the word "Updates" after Firmware. The meaning becomes much clearer.)

Granted, FOTA isn't the sexiest acronym out there. But it's becoming an increasingly important one, especially in the field of automotive infotainment.

The problem, of course, is 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.

So why am I bringing this up? Because I just read a blog post by my colleague Andy Gryc on the growing role of FOTA in automotive. It's called Fill the Tank, Check the Oil, and Update the Software, and you can read it here.

 

Driving innovation in navigation: More QNX demos from Telematics Detroit

Recently, I shared two videos from Telematics Detroit, one showing off-board navigation from TeleNav, the other showing smartphone connectivity from RealVNC. I've got two more videos to round out the series, both recently posted on the QNXcam YouTube channel.

First up is Steve Petilli from TCS. In this video, Steve demonstrates how TCS software allows a QNX-based head unit to interact with a 3D navigation app running on a connected smartphone. Standout feature: If your car runs into a problem, such as low fuel, a diagnostic system can alert the navigation app, which will then point you to the nearest service station:



Next up is Rainer Holve from Elektrobit. In this video, Rainer demonstrates an Audi navigation system based on technology from Elektrobit and QNX. Standout feature: You can tell this system where you want to go simply by talking to it:


 

RealVNC demos smartphone connectivity on QNX-powered head unit

Two weeks ago, at Telematics Detroit, RealVNC demonstrated how its technology lets you access your smartphone, and all of its apps, from the dashboard of your car.

If you think this technology will give you unfettered access to YouTube, Facebook, and Email while driving, think again — the system can be configured to lock out distracting apps while the car is in motion. You can, however, interact with maps, local search, and other useful services, using steering wheel buttons or other in-car controls. The best part is, your smartphone stays in your purse or pocket, which is where it belongs when you're behind the wheel.

Enough blather. Let's roll the tape:



For more information on this and other approaches to car-smartphone connectivity, download the whitepaper written by my colleague Andy Gryc.
 

Demos from BlackBerry World: Android app player, Facebook app, SAP sales dashboards, and more

The folks over at the BlackBerry Blog have been busy beavers, posting freshly minted videos from BlackBerry World 2011. I was particularly interested in the demos of the Android App Player, native email app, SAP sales dashboards, Facebook app, and a BlackBerry "super app".

Grab some popcorn, dim the lights, and check them out:

Android app player: Look ma, no buttons!


Native email app: A familiar interface


SAP sales dashboards: Delivering "big data"


Facebook app: Getting social


BlackBerry super app: The power to share