Beijing, Jan 26 (IANS): BlackBerry has expanded its strategic partnership with China-based Baidu to power next-generation autonomous and connected cars.
With world-leading levels of data granularity, Baidu's high-definition maps provide a critical component for global automakers looking to launch next generation connected and autonomous vehicles.
These high-definition maps will run on Blackberry's QNX Neutrino Real-time Operating System (RTOS) and will be mass-produced in the forthcoming GAC New Energy Aion models from the EV arm of GAC Group, the companies said in a statement.
"With BlackBerry QNX's embedded software as its foundation, Baidu has made significant progress as part of its Apollo platform in establishing a commercial ecosystem for innovative technologies that OEMs can leverage for their next generation vehicles," said Dhiraj Handa, VP, Channel, Partners and APAC, BlackBerry Technology Solutions.
"We look forward to continuing to work closely with Baidu to help develop and deploy leading edge autonomous driving and connected vehicle technologies to meet the ever increasing mission-critical and security requirements of the automotive industry," Handa added.
The QNX Neutrino RTOS foundation for Baidu's high-definition maps is a robust real-time microkernel operating system that provides deterministic performance as well as flexibility to address the limited resources of the embedded system.
"The BlackBerry QNX software performs well in functional safety, network security and reliability, while Baidu has achieved long-term development in artificial intelligence and deep learning," said Wang Yunpeng, Senior Director of Technology Department of Baidu's Intelligent Driving Group.
"Together, we can help car manufacturers quickly produce safe autonomous vehicles and promote the development collaboratively of the intelligent networked automobile industry".
Ontario-based BlackBerry provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world.
The company secures more than 500 million endpoints including over 175 million cars on the road today.