BlackBerry’s Secret Weapon: QNX. You Probably Use It for Music and Don’t Even Know It
No matter what happens with BlackBerry’s handsets, the company always has QNX. It’s possible you’ve been using QNX for years and never knew it. And as we get deeper into the era of the connected car, tens of millions of people will be using QNX.
The company was founded by two University of Waterloo in the early 80s and was acquired by BlackBerry in 2010. By then, QNX was an industry leader in telematics, the computer software used in cars for everything from audio gear to GPS units to safety sensors. It’s the middleman software between the guts of the vehicle and whatever software is laid on top of it. For example, something like Apple’s CarPlay needs to sit on top of QNX for everything to work.
It’s now the platform used behind the dashboard of Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, BMW, Chrysler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and more. It’s a massive, massive success.
If you’re interested in how this Canadian company is changing the entertainment experience in vehicles worldwide, follow up with this article in the National Post.
