QNX is at convergence this year with a great demo. Some great things from a multimedia perspective that we’re showing at this demo:
* Zune playback
* iPod 1-wire playback
* USB Mass storage playback
* Youtube
* Video games
* Multinode: you can plug in an iPod in the front, and listen to it in the back seat using headphones
* From you LCD panel dash cluster you can see what song you’re playing, and its artwork
I think this demonstrates a well “connected” car. You’ve got the devices, you’ve got the internet, and you’ve got several happy networked users!
Here is a photo of the booth:
There are more photos of this on [Paul Leroux's blog](http://onqpl.blogspot.com/2008/10/report-from-convergence.html “On Q: Report from Convergence”).
There are lots of other advanced features that it shows as well such as voice integration, hands free support for bluetooth phones. I hope a few of you have a chance to see it.
Cars are getting to be pretty advanced and feature rich. [CNET has an article that talks about how iPods are integrated into more than half of 2009 models](http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10064887-48.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheCarTechblog “Raising the bar: iPod integration in more than half of 2009 models | Car Tech: An automotive blog from CNET – CNET Reviews”). QNX likely has contributed a large portion to many of these models. Its satisfying to see your work end up in real-world product.
[The article](http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10064887-48.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheCarTechblog “Raising the bar: iPod integration in more than half of 2009 models | Car Tech: An automotive blog from CNET – CNET Reviews”) also has some interesting stats on hard drives and bluetooth integration in cars. The head units in cars these days are as powerful as many desktop computers and have even more peripherals.
Now unfortunately, the one thing the article has completely wrong is that “Microsoft Automotive Platform … offers the most universal integration”. If I were to compare MS Auto to QNX Car, I’d like to point out:
* CD’s are not dead. MS Auto currently doesn’t do CDs, or CD Changers. QNX is shipping in many cars today with that feature. We also support MP3-CD’s
* Ripping CDs, or USB Sticks. QNX’s MME manages all this for you so that when you ask to rip a CD or list of USB tracks to your hard drive it will do that as fast as possible without interrupting your playback. And if you power off your car, it’ll continue where it left off.
* Embedded hard drive support: without ripping, do you support a hard drive?
* Internet Radio integration.. how connected are you without the internet?
* QNX Car also has the same “most universal integration” features that MS has: USB Mass Storage, iPod, PlaysForSure, Zune, Bluetooth.
* QNX Car is shipping in many other makes than Ford. In fact the last stat I heard is that it is in over 40% of the 2009 models! I should talk to marketing to get a completely accurate number.
As usual, Microsoft has lots of dollars to spend on advertising, but the real question is how good is their product? QNX has always been quality driven, and therefore is chosen to run space equipment, nuclear power plants, and the fancy features in your car.