The rotting corpse of Blackberry Ltd. may provide the extra juice needed to get Apple’s car project rolling.
Apple has reportedly poached key engineers from BlackBerry’s QNX team in Canada to help develop the operating system for its self-driving car. And the iPhone-maker has set up shop just five-minutes away from the QNX offices.
[contextly_auto_sidebar] “Many of the engineers working in Canada were hired over the past year and about two dozen came from BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX,” reports Bloomberg. “Apple targeted QNX employees because of their experience developing fundamental components of operating systems and power management.”
Despite the new blood from BlackBerry, Apple’s car project has been plagued with problems. Veteran Apple exec Bob Mansfield was brought back from retirement to oversee the project. The company has reportedly changed its goal from making a self-driving car to just developing the self-driving platform
Over 60 million vehicles on the road today currently use QNX technology for infotainment systems. Ford, Acura, BMW, Audi and other automakers use QNX. The division is seen as one of the last remaining bright spots for Blackberry after it squandered its lead in the smartphone market to the iPhone.
Apple’s list of notable hires from QNX includes former CEO Dan Dodge who spends a lot of time in California and Canada overseeing the car operating system. Derrick Keefe also joined Apple after working as a senior engineer at QNX for over ten years.
The report also reveals that Apple has created Virtual Reality systems to test its self-driving tech. This allows Apple to keep its cars off the road and remain secret.
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Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
4 responses to “Apple squeezes Blackberry to build carOS”
Too bad they don’t have QNX’s patents and technology as well.
You can poach employees, but you are starting from scratch and the competition is already well ahead of Apple. Including QNX.
If BlackBerry was stealing Apple employees would we assume that they are going to be successful at recreating the iphone?! Assuming Apple will be successful with QNX employees but without QNX’s patents is folly.
Also, isn’t project Titan just a money hole that Apple keeps shoveling cash into?!
Get 90 dollars each day for working on-line from your own home for couple of h everyday… Get regular payment weekly… You’ll need a laptop, connection to the internet, along with some spare time… KORTA.NU/NDe
I guess Apple doesn’t have the confidence in their own engineers to take on such a feat. Seems desperate to set up shop across from QNX and take their employees. What else do you expect from a company who removes useful features in an effort to innovate (ie. Headphone jack, USB ports, etc., things people are used to having and using)
Contrary to popular belief, Apple does not have a mystical underground garden for growing talented, experienced people from magic beans. They actually have to hire them, just like everyone else. If the QNX crew has talent, why the heck shouldn’t Apple grab them?
Besides, what exactly do we know about what’s really going on behind the scenes? Apple may well have met with some of these folks, grilled them for various ideas or blue sky notions, then hired them for that very reason.