Ottawa’s QNX Software Systems, a subsidiary of Research in Motion, is unleashing a series of automotive technology-related offerings at the Consumer Electronics Showcase this week in Las Vegas.
Among the QNX announcements at CES are a new technology concept car, version 2.0 of the QNX CAR application platform, and a new speech framework for in-car voice recognition.
While we’re still a little ways off from KITT of Knight Rider-levels of interactivity with our cars, QNX has launched a new framework for in-car speech recognition. A component of the QNX CAR application platform, the framework allows in-car applications to access AT&T Watson speech recognition technology. The combination will allow developers to create more intuitive and functional interactive voice applications for automobiles.
QNX brought a Bentley Continental GT convertible to Las Vegas as a concept car to show off some of the capabilities of its CAR application platform 2.0, and its “connected cockpit” of tomorrow. It includes a centre stack DLP display from Texas Instruments with HD graphics and 3D navigation. By saying “Hello, Bentley” a driver can interact with the car using the QNX/AT&T Watson platform – and of course, the car has a British accent. There’s also smartphone integration, multimedia entertainment, a web app for remote monitoring of data such as tire pressure, video conferencing, and a reconfigurable digital instrument panel.
The Bentley’s centre stack. (Courtesy QNX).
The Bentley’s customizable dash (Courtesy QNX).
“From smartphone integration to 3D navigation, our tier one customers are under pressure to deliver market-differentiating features at the speed of mobility,” said Derek Kuhn, vice-president of sales and marketing, QNX Software Systems, in a statement. “Consumers have become conditioned by the rapid evolution of mobile devices, and the QNX CAR application platform was expressly designed to help automotive companies address those time-to-market expectations – while maintaining automotive-grade reliability and performance.”