Auto-tech firm shows off 'cool' in-car gadgets
LAS VEGAS – One of the most successful companies on the in-car infotainment playing field is one you've likely never heard of.
QNX Software Systems is a Canadian company owned by once-pioneering cellphone maker BlackBerry, and it provides screen-based entertainment and safety systems to an array of automakers ranging from Ford to Bentley.
QNX execs are duly proud of their original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, track record. In fact, the company's show area here at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show is tucked behind that of Ford, for which QNX designed the automaker's new Sync 3 infotainment system.
The original Sync system had been designed by Microsoft, and ran into some criticism about its functionality particularly with regard to voice recognition and navigation inputs.
But QNX isn't beyond blowing its own horn. A matte-blue Maserati Quattroporte packed with future-think gadgets serves as a showpiece for where the connected car may be headed, says Derek Kuhn, vice president of sales, BlackBerry Technology Solutions.
"The three areas were growth and development will be huge are infotainment, safety and telematics," says Kuhn, slipping into the sleek Italian sedan. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which owns Maserati, commissioned QNX to carry out the study.
Inside, the first thing you notice is that your side and rear view mirror are filled with projected images thanks to strategically mounted cameras. A quick voice command overlays the considerably smaller image the driver would see if using a standard mirror.
"We are simply trying to give the driver a better perspective on the road," says Kuhn, activating the car's navigation system, whose map then dominates a large central tablet-like touch screen.
The Maserati then pretends to do a loop around the Las Vegas strip, which allows Kuhn to spotlight QNX's vibrant instrument cluster.
Any time the car comes to a curve at speeds in excess of the suggested speed limit, alerts flash on the screen and the steering wheel vibrates.
With a few other toggles the cluster – where once old-school gauges used to live – changes from instruments to your music choice.
Kuhn says that while tech companies such as Google may have self-driving cars with far more sophisticated sensors, QNX is in the business of coming up with cool in-car gadgets that could actually see production soon.
"A car like this Maserati allows us to just put the ideas out there," he says. "The automakers know their customers, and they take it from there. But I do sense people want what we have in mind."
More auto tech stories from CES: