Apple CarPlay Infotainment System Runs on BlackBerry’s QNX | Hacker News Reader

Apple CarPlay Infotainment System Runs on BlackBerry’s QNX

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67 pointsprotomyth36 comments

Depending on how this thing is implemented, the claim in the title might or might not be true. For all we know, CarPlay might just be an extension to the existing car entertainment systems, using something like VNC (or hopefully something more optimized for the use-case) to show the iOS screen on the existing infrastructure.

In that case, the car is running QNX because it has always been running QNX and because the car must be useable even if the user decides to switch to a different platform or loses their device.

In that scenario, saying CarPlay is running QNX is similar to saying your Thunderbolt display is running OSX when it's connected to your Mac running OSX, or using an even closer analogy, similar to saying that your OS X machine is running linux because you're using SSH connected to a linux box (or any other kind of remote desktop)

Personally, I would guess this is the kind of integration at work here. This is not about actually delegating the entertainment system functionality to iOS. This is just about sending touch events and maybe telemetry data to iOS while displaying the video feed produced by iOS.

Indeed, CarPlay appears to use the existing h264-based display streaming technology that Apple employs for AirPlay and the Lightning Digital AV adapters.

The CarPlay name, which is similar to AirPlay, seems to hint at that too.

You're spot on, CarPlay is essentially Apple's version of MirrorLink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MirrorLink). Volvo's press release from yesterday put it concretely:

>Smooth connection Apple CarPlay is available for iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5 running the latest version of Apple’s iOS operating system. Apple CarPlay allows connection of the device to the car through a Lightning cable. The connection is based on a streaming H.264 video feed that returns user input from the touchscreen. Apple CarPlay will be available in forthcoming Volvo models based on the new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), starting with the all-new Volvo XC90 later in 2014.

https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressrele...

No, the in-built car infotainment is built on QNX. Of course it works without phone, too! The CarPlay is just for iPhone users if they want to use their iPhone that way. It's similar to AirPlay. Android users can plug in their devices and get Android on that thing (when Android gets the compatible software).

CarPlay doesn't run anything. It's a protocol for iOS to talk to in car entertainment systems and controls. It's better to think of it as a specialized version of AirPlay for cars.

QNX ... In late 90s there was a story making rounds that all street lights in Toronto were managed from a single 486 box running QNX. Does anyone else remember it?

I always wondered why they would use something like QNX and have more work ahead of them in integration vs. just put iOS on it like they did with an apple TV. The cost is low enough to make it practical.

Many of the same manufacturers supporting CarPlay have already committed to Android support as well (http://www.openautoalliance.net/#press). I would imagine that Apple building on top of QNX allows for the car manufacturers to standardize on a single hardware platform across all mobile integrations.

I doubt that Apple could announce so many automotive partners if the system was completely Apple proprietary, due to both time and flexibility.

QNX is already used in a lot of in-car infotainment systems and the auto manufacturers have plenty of experience with it. It's also better optimized for this sort of environment. For example an iPhone can take up to a minute to start up, but QNX can boot almost instantly. It's not just a case of slapping iOS into a car, job done. The environment, required performance characteristics, device drivers needed to integrate with the rest of the car's systems, etc, etc are a whole different world. It's not that Apple couldn't do it, it's just that there are existing systems that do exactly what's needed.

Also interesting to note is that Tizen has a presence for infotainment systems with car manufacturers also.

https://01.org/solutions/why-tizen-for-ivi

The car systems are probably all running QNX, you cannot just switch them to iOS which cannot deal with the hardware.

I wonder if they're looking to reduce the hardware footprint required. If QNX is lighter than iOS, they might be able to save a few dollars per unit. If they can get away with a 40Mhz processor rather than a 1Ghz processor, that's a pretty good cost savings. iOS might have more features than they really need, like running Windows CE rather than Windows XP for embedded stuff.

Another possibility I can think of is that they want deeper integration into the car, and QNX may already be running on that car. Adding Siri on top of an existing platform might actually be less work than getting iOS to talk to QNX in a way that Apple is satisfied with.

is it more work? The CarPlay seems to run on the iPhone and projects to the QNX system. So the car system is just a dumb interface. Update iOS, and you update Carplay. Seems like less work.

"We have a long-standing partnership with Apple to ensure high-quality connectivity with their devices, and this partnership extends to support for Apple CarPlay."

That statement from QNX doesn't seem to confirm that CarPlay runs on QNX. Might it be QNX is working to support Apple CarPlay integration / interaction with other head unit devices?

That said, I don't often follow automotive head unit software so I might be missing something that is not in the article.

Link bait.

How so?

More specifically, the title says "runs on", the body of the post says "may actually run" and the only evidence given is that Apple listed somewhere on the QNX website.

The update is saying that QNX has confirmed this.

Oh I see, missed that, thanks. Well, I'm splitting hairs here, but "runs on" and "this partnership extends to support for Apple CarPlay" is not really the same thing.

They also have a response from Paul Leroux at QNX, saying that QNX are to some extent involved in CarPlay.

Since it was the article that the Verge and other sourced off of, I felt it constituted an original source. I am unclear why it is link bait. The title is direct, factual, and not hyperbole, so I am wondering why you think its link bait?

[edit: as freehunter and sibartlett pointed out - the update confirms the title with a source at QNX]

The title is hardly factual. It was a theory by the author that shows his misunderstanding of CarPlay, the update does not confirm his theory either. The in car entertainment system might run QNX, CarPlay is a protocol. It's not like Apple is designing the head unit.

👍

"The in car entertainment system might run QNX, CarPlay is a protocol." vs "Apple CarPlay Infotainment System Runs on BlackBerry’s QNX"

Did you know iTunes runs on Windows? Well, Apple's CarPlay runs on QNX. The title is factually correct.

The title's implication is clearly that Apple is using BlackBerry tech for CarPlay, a very link-baity title. The reality is that QNX is able to implement CarPlay. A better title might be "Apple's CarPlay compatible with BlackBerry's QNX".

I find substituting "compatible with" for "runs on" to actually be less informative and confusing. The title is fine as it properly informs someone what platform a piece of software runs on.

And I think that's where the confusion is. CarPlay doesn't "run on" QNX in the sense that QNX is the platform Apple chose to implement CarPlay. It's accurate to say iCloud "runs on" Azure, as the iCloud platform, at least partially, runs on Microsoft's Azure services. The QNX OS implements the car portion of the CarPlay protocol. Other OSes can also implement the car portion. CarPlay is a protocol, not software that runs on anything.

"CarPlay is a protocol, not software that runs on anything"

Ok, look, CarPlay isn't mystical, its implemented in software than runs on QNX. It might run on other things, the title doesn't say "exclusively", it doesn't say "only". Protocols are implemented in software. Software runs on OSes.

The normal person has no confusion over what the title means. I swear I'm being trolled on this one.

I'm wondering the same thing...

The author of the article clearly is confused over what's going on.

It's not the article I'm having problems with.

iTunes for windows was very big news when it was announced.

I was going for the use of "run" in a non-exclusive manner on another platform.

Lots and lots of stuff runs QNX. My brother works in lighting and stage design, and it's big there.

Why is this news? CarPlay can run on top of any platform (it could run on windows if it was ported there) just as a VNC client can. They are essentially the same concept. Apple is actually playing catch up with the Android centric MirrorLink technology.

Do everybody a favour and just don't post if you aren't interested in the topic.

I for one am interested in how this was implemented. Who cares if someone did this before ? Apple has a long history of coming in later and implementing the overall solution better.

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