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Once an smartphone pioneer, BlackBerry is entering newer areas.
It's QNX software is ready for self-driving cars that can sense obstacles, communicate with other vehicles in its vicinity to avoid accidents, and keep from straying from highway lanes.
View attachment 16254 Ford already uses QNX for in-vehicle entertainment. BlackBerry is extending QNX with third party software and hardware for autonomous car technology. It will be a central platform on which different companies can develop their own differentiated features.
Does that sound like a new fortune for BlackBerry? Apple, Google, Tesla,... are already eyeing this space. It will be a battle from the start!
Application development is an expensive business, OS/platform choices are critical to success. Making the wrong selection means the ecosystem does not evolve and the list of potential customers is severely limited. Whether you are talking about PCs, games consoles or mobile phones, there is a reason that platform choices shake down to 2-3 viable offerings. I don't know this part of the automotive market but I see no reason why it would be significantly different.
In every business, ecosystem is very important part. We often underestimate car manufacturing, but actually that's not an easy job. In my view, a car manufacturer will always better understand what is needed for car driving. Of course, they also need consumer electronic expertise.
Tesla is already in its beta phase for Autopilot driving of its Model S sedans. Tesla, at this moment, doesn't recommend full hands-off driving, but that doesn't seem too faraway from now. Driver-less driving may be a reality towards later half of next decade.
