BlackBerry downplays Toyota’s rival software use

BLACKBERRY Limited has downplayed news that Toyota Motor Corporation would adopt rival software for its future vehicle consoles, saying it was more focused on the faster-growing market for autonomous driving technology.

Automotive Grade Linux (AGL), a collaborative effort of some 100 technology companies and vehicle firms, has said that Toyota will start using its opensource software in Entune 3.0 consoles of its 2018 Camry sedans, before deploying it in most Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold in North America.

BlackBerry chief operating officer Marty Beard wrote in a blog that he expected AGL, as well as regular Linux and Android, to take a share of the automotive infotainment market, where BlackBerry’s QNX is a dominant supplier.

“None of the challenger platforms is close to displacing BlackBerry QNX in safety-critical modules, areas that are growing faster than infotainment in a software-defined car,” Beard wrote.

QNX is a leading supplier of software for consoles that deliver video, mapping, hands-free calling and internet services to vehicles, and is pitching for more business in the race toward autonomous driving.

Toyota is the first major carmaker to adopt AGL, a project started five years ago to develop standardised opensource software for the motor industry.

Christopher Rommel, of VDC Research, said a Linux-based industry standard could threaten QNX’s strong position in infotainment, but that Linux would struggle to compete with BlackBerry’s small real-time applications.

AGL’s more than 100 members include Toyota, Ford , Honda, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan Motors, Suzuki Motor Corporation and Subaru.