BlackBerry has announced its “most advanced and secure embedded software platform for autonomous drive and connected.” In layman terms, BlackBerry intends to provide the computer code for everything from cars driving themselves, to the way a smartphone hooks up to the touchscreen in the dash.
From sophisticated infotainment systems to the artificial intelligence enabling autonomous driving, vehicles are looking more and more like computers on wheels. Which means the software – not hardware like engines – is what really sets one car apart from its competitors.
The platform shall be based on QNX Operating Systems which is incidentally, owned by BlackBerry. As of now, BlackBerry’s QNX is running on more than 60 million vehicles, with over 40 automakers relying on the software platform.
BlackBerry is now modifying its QNX platform so it can run self-driving car tech as well. The idea is to give automakers a secure platform to run their self-driving car software. Since self-driving cars are still in their early days, many automakers are running the software on massive computers sitting in car trunks.
BlackBerry is looking to get a slice of the self-driving car space by offering a secure, integrated platform to support self-driving car software later on. (Doing so also gives BlackBerry some cushion to ensure its product stays in cars as they evolve.)
As part of that aim, BlackBerry has opened an Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Centre in Ontario, where it was also approved to test self-driving cars on public roads. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an appearance on the centre’s opening day.
A self-driving Lincoln MKZ running on BlackBerry QNX software also drove itself on a test track at CES this year.
