New Mercedes-Benz Concept S-Class Coupé sports QNX-powered infotainment system

Paul Leroux

All-digital instrument cluster and head unit based on QNX CAR Platform

Did you ever lay your eyes on something and say, “Now, that is what I want for Christmas”? Well, I just said it — in response to a set of wheels. But holy turbochargers, what wheels! Not to mention everything else.

If you’re wondering what fueled this sudden rush of automotive desire, here’s a glimpse:



And here’s a bird’s-eye view:



And here’s a peak at the oh-so-gorgeous interior:


All images copyright Daimler AG

Mercedes-Benz took the wraps off this car, the new Concept S-Class Coupé, earlier this week. And just a few minutes ago, QNX and Mercedes revealed that the car’s infotainment system is based on the QNX CAR Platform.

This isn’t the first time QNX and Mercedes-Benz have worked together. Besides providing the OS for various Mercedes infotainment systems, the QNX automotive team has worked with Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America since the early 2000s, providing the group with advanced technologies for the specification and prototyping of next-generation vehicle electronics. The infotainment system in the Concept S-Class Coupé is the latest — and arguably coolest — product of this long collaboration.

The Concept S-Class Coupé also packs a serious power plant: a 449 hp Biturbo V8 with peak torque of 516 lb-ft. And it offers driver-assistance technologies that are, quite literally, forward looking. Here is a sampling of what's inside:

• Two 12.3-inch displays
• Touchscreen showing four world clocks
• Stereo camera offering 3D view of the area in front of the car
• "6DVision" to detect the position and movement of objects in front of the car
• Variety of assistance systems to monitor surrounding traffic

I’m only touching the surface here. For more details on the car, visit the Mercedes-Benz website. And before you go, check out the press release that QNX issued this morning.

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 2013 CES:



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

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 2012.

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

Panasonic goes global with QNX CAR platform

Paul Leroux

In the automotive market — or any market, for that matter — a product platform must be judged by its flexibility. After all, the whole point of a platform is to help you create multiple products or product lines, each with its own distinguishing features, while reusing as many components as possible. Done right, a platform lets you target multiple price points, multiple consumer segments, and multiple geographies, in the least time and at the least cost. If that doesn’t define flexibility, I don’t know what does.

Which brings me to Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America. They’re an international supplier of infotainment systems — Chevy MyLink and Chrysler Uconnect are just two of their products — and they need this kind of flexibility to deliver localized solutions  to their OEM customers in North America, Europe, and Japan. To help achieve it, they use the QNX CAR platform.

Flexible by design: MyLink supports
a touchscreen, voice commands,
and steering-wheel buttons.

To quote Scott Kirchner, vice president and CTO of Panasonic Automotive Systems, “we wanted a platform that would let us quickly customize our infotainment systems for a variety of markets and customer requirements — the QNX CAR platform, with its modular architecture and support for mobile connectivity standards, provides the inherent flexibility we were looking for.”

That quote comes from a press release issued just a few minutes ago. To read the release in its entirety, visit the QNX website. But before you click, remember also to visit the Chevy website, where you can find out more about the MyLink system. And did I mention? MyLink has been building quite the trophy case, what with the Best of CES 2013 Award it won in January and the CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Award it won in May.

Chevy MyLink system.
Images: Chevrolet

From Hollerith to HTML5: the inevitable rise of the programmable car

Paul Leroux

Some people are crazy good at predicting the future. Case in point: Nicola Tesla. In 1909 he proclaimed that "everyone in the world" would one day communicate with wireless handheld devices. At the time, people must have thought he was, well, crazy. But look around you: when's the last time you weren't surrounded by people using wireless handhelds?

Over the years, the auto industry has produced many technology visionaries who share this talent for prognostication. Mind you, visionary is probably the wrong word. Many of these people didn’t simply envision the future; they tried to build it. All too often, however, the technology needed to make their ideas work was still in its infancy — or simply didn't exist yet.

For evidence, consider the ITER AVTO. Introduced in 1930, this dash-mounted navigation system used maps printed on rolls of paper. These maps were connected by a cable to the speedometer and would scroll forward in proportion to the car’s speed. It was all pretty cool, provided you didn’t make a turn — otherwise, quick, change rolls! Basically, a great idea hampered by the tech of its time:


Source: Dieselpunks

For another example, consider these “alarming” glasses, which made their debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1951. The concept was simple: monitor eye movements to determine whether the driver is falling asleep; if so, sound an alarm. Just one problem: to detect eye movement, the glasses used a thin steel wire pressed against the driver’s eyelids. It was another great idea that needed yet-to-be invented technology — in this case, inexpensive (and non-invasive) eye-tracking cameras — to work.


Source: Modern Mechanix blog

And then there’s the 1969 Buick Century Cruiser, an autonomous concept car that used punch cards to program the car’s destination. The driver would insert a card encoded with a destination, and an electronic highway center (whatever that was) would then take over and guide the car to where it was programmed to go.


Source: Car Styling 2.0 

The car was never intended to be sold, of course. To be commercially viable, it would have required technologies that simply weren't available in 1969.

But you know what? I think the Century Cruiser represents a watershed concept: that you can use software to control or enhance a car's behavior. The Century Cruiser may have used Hollerith cards, but it presaged vehicles that, in a few short years, would use programming languages like C to control ECUs and anti-lock brakes. From there, it was only a matter of time before cars would use software technologies like HTML5 to deliver everything from weather reports to smartphone integration. The software path was set, even if no one realized it yet.

Controlled openness

Paul Leroux

The title of this post sounds like a contradiction in terms. But you know what? It captures the predicament faced by every automaker today.

On the one hand, automakers need to convince mobile developers that it's worthwhile to create apps for the car. They also need to make the process of creating and monetizing car apps as easy and open as possible. Otherwise, why would a developer spend time developing a car app when a phone app could reach many more customers? (About 60 million cars shipped in 2012, compared to more than 545 million smartphones — and most of those cars can't host apps.)

On the other hand, apps can't run willy-nilly in the car. For safety's sake, automakers must impose control on when specific apps can be used, and the apps themselves must be designed or modified to minimize distraction, possibly in accordance with government-mandated rules and guidelines. That may sound like an imposition on developers, but not really. After all, developers want to create apps that will prove popular with consumers, and consumers will be far more interested in apps that can be used while the car is moving — apps that, for safety reasons, can be used only when the car is stopped will hold less appeal.

But enough from me. Recently, my colleague Andy Gryc caught up with Thilo Koslowski, VP Distinguished Analyst at Gartner, and they discussed the notion of controlled openness for the car — along with how HTML5 fits into the picture. The cameras were rolling, so grab some popcorn, dim the lights, and check it out:

Jivin' up the Jeep with a fresh new version of the QNX CAR Platform

by Paul Leroux

Reskinnable, reconfigurable,
and refreshed

If you haven’t already heard, we've announced version 2.1 of the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment. In fact, we’re demonstrating it this week at the Telematics Detroit conference.

So what’s new in 2.1? Well, let’s start with what hasn’t changed. The platform is still based on the same, reliable QNX architecture proven in tens of millions of vehicles. (Fact: In 2012, QNX technology shipped in 11 million cars. If you put those cars end to end, they’d circle the earth — and you’d still have about 6000 miles of cars left over. That's a lot of cars.) The platform also retains its inherent flexibility, allowing infotainment system designers to use multiple app environments, connect to multiple mobile platforms, and create a wide range of systems.

Um... let me correct that statement. The new version is, in fact, more flexible. From the beginning, the QNX CAR Platform has supported both HTML5 and OpenGL ES, the two most popular open standards for mobile development. And now, with version 2.1, it also supports Android apps, as well as apps and human machine interfaces (HMIs) built with the popular Qt 5 application framework.

The QNX reference vehicle — a modded Jeep Wrangler — is the perfect, well, vehicle for showcasing these new capabilities. Take, for example, the new digital instrument cluster, which is implemented in OpenGL ES:



I enjoyed the look of the reference vehicle’s original cluster, and still do. But you know what I like about the new version? It shows how a digital cluster can deliver state-of-the-art features, yet still honor the look-and-feel of an established brand like Jeep. These features include dynamic reconfigurability and the power to display turn-by-turn directions, weather updates, and other information provided by the head unit.

Speaking of which, here is the head unit’s main screen, which serves as a one-stop information center for turn-by-turn directions, weather, music, and recent messages:



Now let’s slide over to the passenger seat for a different perspective. If you look below, you’ll see the head unit’s app tray, which shows how the QNX CAR Platform can blend a variety of apps and HMI technologies on the same display — in this case, native and Android apps running on an HMI built with the Qt 5 application framework. In case you’re wondering, the Android app icons in this image are AutoTrader and TapTu. (That's right, they can be accessed just like other apps.)



If you’ve seen images of the QNX technology concept car (you know, the Bentley!), you’re already familiar with the gorgeous 3D navigation system created by our partner Elektrobit. Well, the reference vehicle also comes with a version of Elektrobit’s nav system, seen here:



And last, here’s an image of my personal favorite, the virtual mechanic. In this case, it's displaying trip information, including duration, mileage, and average speed:



There's a lot to see in version 2.1 of the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment, but there's also a lot you can't see — such as improved power management, optimizations for faster boot time, and support for more hardware platforms, including Freescale i.MX 6Dual and i.MX 6Quad, NVIDIA Tegra 3, Texas Instruments OMAP 5, and Texas Instruments Jacinto 5 Eco.

What's more, I haven't shown you any of the new, pre-integrated partner apps that have been added to the platform, including HearPlanet, Parkopedia, Soundtracker, and wcities eventseekr. But no worries, I plan to reveal more in coming posts.

In the meantime, I invite you to check out the press release we issued this morning.

BlackBerry demonstrates new mobile computing service for automakers

This just in: BlackBerry has announced a new service for  automakers that will let them manage and deliver “over-the-air” (OTA) software updates to vehicles. Leveraging BlackBerry’s global and secure infrastructure, which already  delivers software updates to millions of BlackBerry devices around the world, the Software Update Management for Automotive service facilitates machine-to-machine (M2M) communication between the automaker and the vehicle, allowing the automaker to easily provide software updates to vehicles in the field.

BlackBerry is previewing the new service this week at the Telematics Detroit conference, where QNX Software Systems is also demonstrating the latest version of its QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment (more on that in my next post).

“BlackBerry is helping facilitate a rapid convergence between mobile computing and the auto industry as automakers seek to connect with customers wherever they may be,” said David J. Smith, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Mobile Computing at BlackBerry. “At Telematics Detroit we are previewing how BlackBerry can help automakers connect with customers... BlackBerry’s Software Update Management for Automotive service can transform the vehicle experience by enabling automakers to deliver new, compelling capabilities to their customers, long after the initial sale.”

More details about the BlackBerry's OTA solutions will made available in the coming months. In the meantime, check out the press release and visit www.blackberry.com/m2m.

Chevy MyLink drives home with CTIA Emerging Technology Award

by Paul Leroux

There's nothing better than going home with first prize. Except, perhaps, doing it twice. Back in January, the QNX-based Chevy MyLink system earned a Best of CES 2013 Award, in the car tech category, for its intuitive user experience, smartphone connectivity, and instrument-cluster integration. And just recently, MyLink pulled another coup: it took first place in the "Automotive, LBS, Navigation & Safe Driving" category of the 2013 CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards.

If you're new to the E-Tech Awards, they honor innovation in wireless products and services. A panel of industry experts, reporters, and analysts conduct the online judging, which selects winners based on functionality, technological importance, and overall “wow” factor.

Congratulations to our friends at Chevrolet! And kudos for bringing such a successful system to market.

For more information on the awards, read the blog post from CTIA. For more information on Chevy MyLink, visit the Chevrolet channel on YouTube.

Image source: Chevrolet

#QNXLive Twitter Sessions Return!

Ask us your questions about self-driving cars and the secrets of the QNX Garage

Paul Leroux

We’re back for more of your questions. Back in December, we held our first #QNXLive Twitter sessions leading up to CES 2013; next week, we’re revving up for Telematics Detroit (June 5-6) with not one, but two #QNXLive sessions with experts from the QNX auto team.

Autonomous cars continue to captivate the popular imagination and are quickly becoming a reality. On Tuesday, May 28 at 4pm ET, Justin Moon, global technical evangelist,will give a preview of his Telematics Detroit panel, “The Autonomous Car: The Road to Driverless Driving” in his first #QNXLive session. Justin will share his thoughts on the latest developments in autonomous and assisted driving, how the industry defines “autonomous”, how your car is already autonomous in certain respects, and how self-driving cars will change your driving experience.

On Thursday, May 30 at 1pm ET, Alex James, concept development team software engineer, will take you Behind the scenes at the QNX Garage in his #QNXLive session. Have you ever wondered what a day looks like in the QNX garage for the concept design team? What does the team enjoy most about working in the garage? Alex will give you a behind-the-scenes look at the birthplace of the QNX technology concept car based on a Bentley Continental GT and the reference vehicle based on a Jeep Wrangler Sahara — both will be at Telematics Detroit.

You can submit your questions now or on the day of the Twitter sessions by tweeting @QNX_Auto with the hashtag #QNXLive. As usual, we’ll be sure to call you out if you asked a question that we selected.

Be sure to follow @QNX_Auto for next week’s live Twitter sessions – and the latest from Telematics Detroit. I’m looking forward to being your host for #QNXLive.

In the meantime, check out our recent posts on autonomous cars and the following videos:

Meet Justin Moon, product manager turned concept designer (Justin is nothing if not versatile: he's since taken on the role of global technical evangelist.)

Meet the QNX concept team: Alex James, software engineer

QNX technology concept car - Bentley Continental