May 2012 ~ Automotive

It pays to uncover... the new QNX reference vehicle

As you know, we are gearing up for Telematics Detroit next week and bringing our brand new reference vehicle to the show. I would tell you what kind of car it is, but that would take away all the fun! We posted some pictures earlier but we wanted to give you a few more to see if you can correctly guess the brand name and model.

And to make it interesting, if you’re right, we’ll give you a $25 gift certificate to Starbucks! We will award gift cards to the first 25 people who respond with the correct answer and currently reside in the United States or Canada.

Earlier votes don’t count; you have to vote on Twitter, starting today. Simply follow our handle at @QNX_Auto and tweet @QNX_Auto with your guess, and you’ll be entered. And stay tuned on Twitter, where we’ll post more pictures. Don’t have Twitter? You can vote here, but you must include your email. And in order to play fair, QNX employees aren't eligible - shucks.

Check out the pictures below and get your votes in early. The car will be unveiled, and winners notified, on June 6. Good luck!

Vehicle battery will run out of charge if there is leakage current

Vehicle battery will run out of charge if there is leakage current. It can is due to short circuit or due to other causes so as if the battery is not current can be loaded. As a result, the car could not start or even worse strike in trip.

To find the leakage current of the battery, you can know with way as follows:

• Turn off all electric keys in the car to the off position as well as turn the ignition key in the ignition to the off position.

• Open the battery terminals are connected to the polls on the bodywork. Then touch pol terminal on the battery.

• Observe whether seen any leaps and electricity to parts of the touched. If yes it means indicates a short circuit in the battery.

• Immediately take the car to the garage for repair.

The Doubleback VW Camper

If you loved to go camping but hate the idea of living in tents, you will love this VW camper.

I definitely want one. Watch the review:

Racing ladies

The TrueCar series focuses on an all female race car team and what it's like to be a woman in a male dominated sport. Gender does not matter.

Thanks for the links Alex.

Check out the videos:

This just in: The RemoteLink App from OnStar, which allows smartphone owners to remotely start their vehicles, check fuel levels, and lock or unlock their doors, is now available for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 phones.

RemoteLink has been available for iPhone and Android phones, but many OnStar subscribers have asked for a BlackBerry version of the app. In response, Onstar wrote a new version for the BlackBerry platform, in HTML5.

“Writing the app using HTML5... positioned us to be more flexible supporting new phone operating systems,” said Steve Schwinke, director of advanced systems development for OnStar.

Opening screen
for RemoteLink
© GM Company

In 2011, OnStar added navigation to RemoteLink, allowing users to search for a destination on their smartphone and send it directly to their vehicle. Users can then access the route through the QNX-powered OnStar system.

By leveraging OnStar’s connection to the vehicle, the app can report on oil levels, tire pressures, fuel level, and lifetime miles per gallon. It also offers remote commands, such as remote start, door lock/unlock, and horn/light activation.

According to OnStar, a total of 821,000 smartphone owners actively use the RemoteLink app.

To read OnStar's press release, click here. To download the RemoteLink app from BlackBerry App World, click here.

On a related note, here's a conversation between QNX's Andy Gryc and OnStar's Steve Schwinke. The topic: how HTML5 can benefit the auto industry.

The BRZ coupe was built as a joint venture with Toyota. The car has received rave reviews in the motoring press.

The car has a new direct injection 2.0 L Boxer engine with choice of two six-speed transmissions - manual or automatic. It is claimed to have the lowest centre of gravity of any car.

According to one source, the OTR price of the car will range between £24995 to £27995.

Our big announcement for Telematics Update is that we are not showing a concept car. Odd news, you say. The truth is, we're not building a concept car because we are building a reference vehicle. Splitting hairs? Not really.

Unlike the Corvette and the Porsche, our demo for this show will be based on the exact same technology that our customers are using today to design their next-generation systems.

So why vehicle instead of car? Is it a truck? Nope. A van? Negative. What about a motorcycle? Double negative.

I was hoping to give you a sneak peek at what we are working on but I'm not allowed to give away the details. However, I did manage to get these shots – let me know if you can see the vehicle. :-)

Recently, our good friends at Elektrobit invited the QNX team to participate in their German Executive Automotive Summit. It was an outstanding event with all of the leading OEMs and tier ones represented. The day was filled with engaging speakers and plenty of opportunities to network.

Elektrobit held the event in a small castle near Erlangen. In the courtyard, several cars featuring Elektrobit technology (and, in almost all cases, QNX technology) were on display. The car from Delphi was especially interesting. It's a full-blown race car, complete with everything you'd expect in a track vehicle — but it also has two rear seats. These seats allow mere mortals like you and I to vicariously share the racing experience with a professional driver at the wheel.

As I stood next to it, drooling, I noticed that it was equipped with an infotainment system, mounted on the back of the driver's seat. I leaned in to have a closer look and, to my delight, saw that it was running the QNX OS. Who knew?

According to CarWoo.com the #1 Problem Facing the Auto Industry, Auto Dealerships and Car Shoppers is that sellers are not selling during the same time buyers are looking to purchase. Check out this Infographic (based on 7,000 transactions) :

Making the smartphone connection: The state of automotive navigation in Japan

A guest post from Yoshiki Chubachi, the automotive business development manager for QNX Software Systems in Japan

Yoshiki Chubachi

The market for navigation systems in Japan grew rapidly until 2006, but since 2007 the yearly volume has reached the saturation point, at about 2.9M units. For instance, in 2008, consumers purchased 900k after-market systems, 1.1M dealer-installed systems, and 909k factory-installed systems. In 2010, those numbers had changed slightly: 1.01M after-market systems, 1.03M dealer-installed systems, and 858k factory-installed systems (source: Yano Research Institute).

That said, the market is starting to experience a shift from after-market to factory-installed devices. Automakers and their tier one suppliers are struggling to differentiate their products by implementing value-added features.

To get a feel for current navigation trends in Japan, let’s look at some notable after-market products that shipped in 2011. As you'll see, smartphones are exerting a major influence on this market, both in terms of system design and user features:

Pioneer AVIC-VH09CS — This high-end system combines augmented reality technology with a front-view camera, overlaying your route on a live video of the road. It also implements a collision warning system by measuring the distance of the car ahead. Other features include terrestrial digital TV (full HD and 1seg), DVD video, AM-FM, CD and SD music, iPod connectivity, and music ripping and encoding.

Clarion NX501 — The smartphone world seems to drive navigation trends, and the Clarion NX501 is no exception. It offers a touchscreen UI that supports swipes, flicks, and other finger gestures similar to those found in smartphones and tablets. Suzuki factory-installed systems also use the type of user interface.

Fujitsu-Ten AVN-F01i — This system comes with three bundled iPhone applications: Twitter Drive (combines tweets with location data), Where is My Car (uses augmented reality to show your parking location on the phone screen; great for finding your car in large parking lots); and News Reader (allows the system’s text-to-speech engine to read out news articles). The system connects to the phone through Bluetooth.

Panasonic CN-H500WD — The system also lets you use finger swipes to operate navigation and audio functions, including a scrolling map. It comes with a smartphone application that provides POI search, which is downloaded to the navigation system through Bluetooth.

Mitsubishi NR-MZ50 — This system provides an “OpenInfo” service based on Pioneer’s Smartloop system, which provides traffic data from a Pioneer server. VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) is a popular traffic data service in Japan that is similar to the RDS-TMC standard, but its coverage is limited to main highways. The smartphone receives traffic data, derived from anonymous traffic probe information, wherever the VICS service isn't supported. Information from the phone is transmitted to the navigation system through Bluetooth.

Connectivity between navigation systems and smartphones remains an issue in Japan. Conventional cell phones are equipped with the Bluetooth DUN profile, which enables data communication between the nav system and the phone, but unfortunately, some carriers still don’t support this profile. Until they do, lack of connectivity will remain a roadblock.

Nonetheless, using smartphones to deliver applications and the user experience has become a major trend in Japan’s navigation systems. Some automotive tier one suppliers, such as Pioneer, already provide navigation applications on the phone. The QNX CAR 2 application platform, with its mobile connectivity features and auto-centric HTML5 framework, offers an ideal foundation for enabling this approach.

I should have had my camera with me. Because if I had photos to show you, you’d understand. Too late now!

It happened in Wilno, a small town in rural Ontario. I had just stepped out of the local tavern when I saw the thing, only meters away.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

It lay close to the ground, absolutely still. Its striped, muscular frame suggested immense power, and its skin reflected the blood-red rays of the setting sun. I stood frozen, refusing to believe what my eyes were telling me.

Moments passed, and I decided I had nothing to lose. I began to walk towards it. Closer… closer… closer.

Finally, I was standing over it. No response. So I reached down and, ever so gently, stroked it. And then it happened. A voice behind me, yelling a question. I mustn’t have responded, because the question was repeated.

“So would you like a peek under the hood?”

"Yes", I said.

Beneath the thing’s hood was a gleaming and oh-so-potent 427 V8. And the thing itself was an AC Cobra, immaculately restored to its mid-60s glory. For the next 30 minutes, the Cobra's owner treated me to a bumper-to-bumper inspection of the car, inside and out. I must have exclaimed “Cool!” about 100 times. Because it was.

The best part? When the owner started it up. The car's engine and side-mounted exhaust pipes erupted into sonic mayhem, right off the decibel scale. Pure rock ‘n’ roll.

Ever since then, I have had the comfort knowing that, on the highways of Ontario, there can be found an unalloyed embodiment of one man’s automotive vision and imagination. A man whom I've never met, but whose work I've admired for more than 45 years. An man who, just recently, left us. The car, an AC Cobra. The man, Carroll Shelby.

RIP Carroll.

We have to consider in conducting periodic inspections to your car is:

1. Power Steering Oil

2. Brake and Clutch (M / T)

3. Checking Engine Oil height.

4. Oil Automatic Transmission (Model A / T)

5. Air Filter

6. Washer Fluid Reservoir

7. Engine Cooling System and Reservoir water radiator

8. battery

9. Drive Belt (fan belt)

10. plug

11. rubber Wiper

12. Fuel filter

13. Check the brake condition.

14. Fuse / fusible link holder.

15. Lights.

16. Tire.

17. Cleaning the Exterior and Interior Vehicle

readmore.......

Several of my colleagues went to CTIA Wireless this week, and yes, they took the connected Porsche with them. No surprise there, of course: we’ve also taken the car to CES, MWC, BBW, and numerous other events. (Sorry, I’m really into acronyms today.) The Porsche, with its QNX-powered mobile connectivity and HD hands-free audio, seems to impress people no matter where it goes, and the reaction at CTIA was no different. In fact, the folks from Black Enterprise were so stoked, they awarded the car a CTIA Best in Show award. How cool is that?

Here’s a snap of the award, sitting on the car’s dash:

Meanwhile, Boonsri Dickinson of BYTE met up with Andy Gryc to ask him about QNX’s vision and technology for the connected car. Here's a video of their conversation — in the Porsche, of course:

Andy didn't spend all of his time in the passenger seat. Both he and Derek Kuhn also participated in connected car panels moderated by automotive journalist Doug Newcomb. The panels included "Apps in Automotive: The Future of In-Car Content" and "Can We All Just Get Along, for the Consumer's Sake?". From what I've heard, both sessions were taped, and I hope to post a link to the videos next week.

In the middle of your journey on the highway, often unexpected damage to your car that can not be avoided. The sudden brake tension will make you panic. Do not panic, there are still things you can do to anticipate it.

May cause you less control over the condition of your vehicle, if you are traveling, a good idea to check the condition of your car first. What should you do:

-Immediately reduce the speed of your vehicle. Then move your foot off the accelerator. Enable the emergency brake.

-Raise your hand brake lever slowly but surely up to the limit of optimal job. Do not answer it in full, due to the sudden braking, the rear of the vehicle will experience traction and can cause sudden twist.

-After using the hand brake, immediately use the engine brake. Insert the gear of the transmission gear position five to position one gear. Although normally teeth can not be

into a low position because of the rotation is too high, because this force an emergency.

-If still having trouble, you should be forced to lean on the front of your vehicle in the front bumper. Although the risk of your car bumper and in front of you to be damaged. His name is also an emergency, an important find survivors. [Erf / auto]

(bid / multiple sources)

Every year, the world's top automakers and automotive suppliers vie for a chance to win a Telematics Update award. In 2011, for example, Audi, BMW, Hyundai, OnStar, and Toyota took top honors in categories such as best infotainment solution, best safety technology, and best cloud-based application.

These companies may have won in a variety of categories, but they share one thing in common: they all use the QNX platform.

As with 2011, so for 2012. If you look at this year's shortlist, you'll see that several QNX customers and technology partners are again in the running. The finalists include GM, whose MyLink system is up for best global infotainment solution, and OnStar, whose FMV system is up for best aftermarket solution.

This pattern is nothing new. Back in 2009, for example, more than 50% of the Telematics Update award winners either worked with QNX as a technology partner or used the QNX platform in their in-car systems.

And did I mention? QNX itself is up for a Telematics Update award this year! The QNX CAR 2 application platform, which drove home with a Best of CES Award in January, is a finalist in the industry newcomer category.

Two of the QNX-powered systems shortlisted for this year's Telematics Update awards:

GM MyLink and OnStar FMV

It's hard to know what pleases me more: that QNX has been singled out for an award, or that QNX has once again helped its customers make the shortlist. Either way, I'm stoked.

The winners will be unveiled June 5, just prior to the Telematics Detroit show. In the meantime, my congratulations to all the finalists.

Indirectly you will save costs to the garage, but look at the tricks before the action. If you have enough knowledge about the car engine and your hobby is tinkering with the engine it does not hurt you to perform maintenance and repairs on your own car.

Aside from causing pleasure as a hobby, indirectly you will save costs to the garage. But before you consider the following tips:

• Buy the right equipment and in accordance with the work you will do.

Do not be tempted to buy an expensive set of equipment, but it turns out later that it was instead the equipment useless.

• To buy part, buy auto parts quality, durable and reliable. Try to get a discount discount alias. Do not buy cheap parts, but not quality. You will only shorten the life of your vehicle.

• Perform maintenance work is completed. Check the parts that deal in one treatment session. For example, check the electrical parts, check all parts associated with electrical systems such as lighting, wiring,

battery, alternator, etc..

• Perform job as car maintenance routine work which becomes a

good habits. Because the car is well maintained and would rarely damage

Longer shelf life.

If you aren't at BlackBerry World this week, you're missing out. For starters, you won't get to see what, in my biased opinion, is the world's coolest car: the QNX-powered and very connected Porsche 911.

But not all is lost. You can still watch this video from Sydney Myers of PhoneDog.com, who caught with up with Mike Shane of QNX for a tour of the car's features — from instant smartphone pairing and off-board navigation to handsfree calling with HD stereo. Check it out:

My favorite part? When the text overlay on the video shouts out "The audio quality was REALLY good." Got that right.

And did I mention? Mike is one of the super-talented people who built the concept car. He's a keeper.

I'm at BlackBerry World 2012 (as you already know if you're following my tweets), and it really is amazing.

In his keynote, RIM's CEO Thorsten Heins provided stats on how the average BlackBerry user isn't just connected, but hyper-connected. BlackBerry users engage in more social media, use more organizational tools, and download more apps per day than other smartphone users. (I wasn't quick enough to type up all the stats, but I'm sure you can find them elsewhere.)

Introducing the BlackBerry
10 dev alpha device

Is the BlackBerry platform an entertainment tool? Productivity tool? Social media hub? All of these, but more than anything else, BlackBerry creates success. The 77 million BlackBerry users worldwide are more agile, productive, competitive, and nimble than their counterparts.

Here are some great factoids I was able to capture:

Mippin is a worldwide mobile development shop responsible for 50,000 apps on iOS, Android, and BlackBerry. But BlackBerry accounts for 70% of their downloads.
Occipital offers a very cool panorama camera app, which they demo'd this morning. It took them only 7 days to port to BlackBerry 10, and it already performs better than the Android version.
Fishlabs creates mobile games. It took them one day to port Galaxy on Fire to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. (And it is one awesome app — I gotta go download it tonight :-)
App World for the PlayBook underwent 240% growth in Q4 2011.
90% of Fortune 500 companies standardize on BlackBerry.

Stay tuned for more pix and reports from what promises to be an awesome show!

Automotive

Include stories and information on automotive technology.

Pages

Unordered List

It pays to uncover... the new QNX reference vehicle

Symptoms of leakage currents in Accu

Report from CTIA Wireless: Apps in the Car

The Doubleback VW Camper

Racing ladies

OnStar RemoteLink app comes to BlackBerry smartphones

RWD Subaru BRZ coupe

Concept car out. Reference vehicle in.

A cool surprise at the Elektrobit auto summit

Making the smartphone connection: The state of automotive navigation in Japan

In Memoriam Carroll Shelby

Periodic inspection of the car

Sound "bytes" from CTIA Wireless 2012

The sudden brake tension

QNX and its customers nab finalist spots in 2012 Telematics Update awards

Car Care Tips Yourself

Phonedog connects with QNX concept car at BlackBerry World 2012

Rockin' the phone at BlackBerry World

Automotive technology

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