BlackBerry and Jaguar Land Rover have signed a deal to collaborate on the car giant’s next-generation vehicles.
BlackBerry has shifted its focus from mobile devices to software for the Internet of Things (IoT). Its focus has been on autonomous vehicles, with products ranging from fleet management tools to telematics devices.
The company has recently signed deals in the automotive industry with Baidu, Delphi, Denso, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Visteon.
BlackBerry infotainment
Under the terms of this new collaboration, BlackBerry will put its mobile expertise towards supporting the development of a next-generation infotainment system to be used in Jaguar Land Rover’s new vehicles.
The mobile software company will also license its QNX and Certicom technologies to Jaguar Land Rover, and send a team of its engineers to support the development of new Electronic Control Unit modules.
Read more: Under the hood of Land Rover’s Project Hero
A focus on security
Dave Nesbitt, Jaguar Land Rover’s director of vehicle engineering, pointed to Blackberry’s reputation for secure software architecture as a factor in the decision to partner with the company. Earlier this year, BlackBerry launched Jarvis, a cloud-based cybersecurity product for the automobile industry.
“Working with BlackBerry will enable us to develop the safe and secure next-generation connected car our customers want,” he said. “Together with BlackBerry engineers, we will be able to access the most dynamic and up-to-date software to ensure the highest security required for our connected vehicles.”
BlackBerry’s SVP and general manager for QNX, John Wall, “We are at a pivotal moment, where innovative automakers, such as Jaguar Land Rover, are realising that they need to take an active role in defining the software architecture for their vehicles.”
“Connected and autonomous vehicles will react and drive based on rich data. Our platforms help process data efficiently and keep it secure and trusted. We are incredibly honored to work with Jaguar Land Rover and look forward to our teams working hand in hand to deliver an enhanced driving experience for their customers.”
Read more: Automotive IoT market projected to reach $82.7 billion by 2022
Internet of Business
Even amongst the reams – or perhaps fleets – of connected and autonomous car announcements this year, the tie-up between BlackBerry and Jaguar Land Rover is a prestigious one. The car marque’s reputation for quality, and BlackBerry’s reputation for security and mobility, should make this one to watch.
Read more: Lamborghini teams with Vodafone on connected supercars