I share your view.
FWIW, sort of a counterargument here, with "software commodity business" reference, etc.
John O'Connell discusses BlackBerry - Video - BNN
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I share your view.
FWIW, sort of a counterargument here, with "software commodity business" reference, etc.
John O'Connell discusses BlackBerry - Video - BNN
Unfortunately, most US businesses look at growth quarterly - I don't see Chen any differently.
There is no need for an Android version. Already lots of them out there.
Also have to look at who else is working on Autonomous Driving (Everyone), and how much they are spending on it compared to BlackBerry.....
Amount of spending only matters if the results ensue. With the history of automotive architecture already sound, they could, in theory, have an advantage that doesn't require the same amount of capital. Of course, regardless of who comes first, most might simply forge ahead with their own solution regardless if they feel abandoning their hefty investment for someone else's solution isn't controlling enough for them.
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That's how I see it. They have some technical advantages and relationships there which they can exploit.
But they have to actually do it! What they've done so far is just the first steps to what could/should be a nice business for them. It's not without risk, though. Tesla is very advanced in their system and there is no QNX in their solution at all. Chris Lattner is one of the most brilliant people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. I would not bet against him.
And I wouldn't discount Dan Dodge and the team he's helping to build. This stuff is right up his alley.
We're on the second lap of the race or something. There is a long, long way to go still.
*BTW, I'm very curious to see if Lattner decides to use QNX for future versions of the Tesla system. He knows the pros/cons and it would be very interesting to see if he changes out Linux for QNX.
Not only is [everyone] working on it many of the systems can use Android or Linux thus no licensing - Amazon's Alexa is a good example. Why buy the OS if you can get it for free. There is also a negative perception of Blackberry's ability to execute and deliver based on their inadequate CEO's performance (leaving Chen aside for the time being). Ultimately Blackberry's failure to deliver has to rest with their Board of Directors - those are the jerks who have remained in denial through the reign of the two co-clowns, then appointed a back office guy who over-promised and under-delivered and now Chen. They should all be fired and sent to Devils Island!
I disagree. None work as well or have same options.
NVIDIA Could Be Kingmaker as Linux, BlackBerry, Microsoft Battle for the Connected Car
By Rob Enderle
This last week, I saw presentations from AGL (Automotive Grade Linux) and Microsoft in their battle for the connected car. It reminded me a lot of the early days of the PC: lots of platforms from very different kinds of companies, but only one clear leader. Ironically, that leader is BlackBerry, largely because QNX is already entrenched in the automotive world. But none of these efforts have fully pivoted yet to self-driving cars on the hardware side. NVIDIA is currently dominant, with Qualcomm and Intel trailing, making this a very interesting and very different dynamic.
This is really a time when partnerships between the technology players could make a huge difference, but everyone seems to be in their own boat at the moment. That suggests that this is closer to being anyone’s game than many realize.
Hardware vs. Software for Self-Driving Cars
We start with a class of vendors, car makers, that don’t partner well, are relatively slow moving and, for the most part, don’t get technology. This really suggests to me a massive disruption. A number of new car makers, with Tesla in the lead, are moving to fully disrupt the market on either the pivot to electrical cars or self-driving cars, or both.
Since, as Tesla has showcased, the move to the next generation of cars will take us to something far closer to rolling computers, the same kind of evolution is likely. This means that the current hardware-based power structure could switch to a software and component dynamic, which is what both the NVIDIA-led hardware effort and BlackBerry-led software group are betting on. That suggests that the partnership that would be nearly impossible to beat would be NVIDIA and BlackBerry.
And if the market standardized on NVIDIA’s Drive PX 2 platform and QNX, the market would lock out most of the other players, much like Intel and Microsoft did with PCs. But we have another dynamic in play and that is AGL and open source.
AGL Wild Card
Car companies are not fans of lock in and have had a high affinity, at least outside of the U.S., for Linux and the idea that they can effectively have their cake and eat it too. In other words, they can still standardize on AGL but customize it enough to meet their unique needs, getting a blend of standards and lowering their cost and time to market and differentiable customization.
This bets that cars will be more like servers, and not PC or smartphones, in that the common applications will be few and customized apps will rule, which is consistent with the way the market is. With smartphone interfaces for broader app support, this would appear to be one of the more interesting platforms, were it not for the fact that, like many Linux projects, AGL seems underfunded. To work, it also requires a higher level of cooperation between car companies than they are currently used to and may be comfortable with.
Microsoft
Microsoft is another potential disruptive entry. While under Steve Ballmer, this effort would have had little chance of success, given that the firm lost Ford as its biggest car supporter, but Satya Nadella as CEO seems to have a clue and understands that a huge potential advantage could be the Azure development platform, which is central to the effort. But to win, Microsoft will need to substantially increase its level of investment, find synergy with additional Microsoft products currently not optimized or even appropriate for cars, and execute far better than it did with Ford Sync and AutoPC.
BlackBerry
As noted, BlackBerry’s QNX is the closest thing we have to an entrenched product and the firm has cut distractions to focus more tightly on this automotive opportunity. Because the company has been engaged with the car companies the longest, it knows the market and its players more deeply and should be able to dominate. But given that self-driving cars are still, and likely will remain, mostly in test for the next several years and Tesla, likely first to market, doesn’t appear to be using the platform, its leadership position remains precarious. It is interesting to note that BlackBerry did pick up Ford from Microsoft.
Wrapping Up: Who Will Define the Self-Driving Car Segment
Overall, I think the hardware vendors, NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Intel, are far more focused on this market than any of the software vendors, and that partnering up could better showcase the coming winners and losers than going it alone now does. In effect, we are waiting for the same kind of moment that Microsoft and IBM made when they partnered on DOS and the modern PC was born, to define the self-driving car segment.
We’ll see who gets it first.
OT:
More on NVIDIA/Tesla
https://electrek.co/2017/01/20/first...lled-in-a-car/
First picture of Tesla’s new NVIDIA onboard supercomputer for Autopilot installed in a car
That said, is Lattner still at Tesla? Thought he had left.
?? He just started 2 weeks. I haven't heard any rumors of him leaving already. That would be surprising.
Eh.. Yeah. I confused him with the guy he is replacing. Sorry about that.
Don't be sorry. I learned something :)
An interesting article on some of the security measures Google has put in place.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/01...urity_silicon/
Some of the steps mentioned sounds very similar to what work BlackBerry has been doing.
It would be interesting to know if there has been any cooperation between Google and BlackBerry on this front, and if the 'secure/securing Android' path BlackBerry is on will become less of a value add on (in the enterprise space) sooner rather than later if Google's positions it's first party hardware there with some new features.
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/01/09...CleanTechnica)
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https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/1...=1485224304113
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https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/05/mi...h+(TechCrunch)
Come on QNX..... Microsoft would be the last threat I was expecting in this space after the Sync disaster. Although it is mostly a marketing video, their new CEO is doing a much better job than Ballmer so I wouldn't underestimate them.
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Speaking of auto, could anyone please explain why MBLY is worth of over 9 Billion with 90 million revenue per quarter while BlackBerry which should have 50 million revenue per quarter, and is valued liked nothing? I am trying to do some homework on ADAS and autonomous driving. I thought BlackBerry should have more advantage. When will BlackBerry show significant revenue on QNX?
M8, I know you are an expert and an auto industry insider? Could you elaborate more on these?
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Features, resilience, cross-platform-ism, security, proven reliability ...
I mean, that's a lot to get for a couple of dollars.
Last but not least, QNX is "white labeled", under the hood [to those who asked for the opposite about 2 years ago : here's the "why"] so that car manufacturers can claim "it's MY own system" or even "it works with CarPlay or Android Auto" without headache.
The kind of advantage you have to balance with risks and, ultimately, costs.
Is there BlackBerry Analyst Summit today? We didn't know any of these. Anyone has any insight?
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'The Google' can chip this, or silicon that, but it won't change the perception of many regarding overall trust in what Alphabet is doing with storage of data.
BlackBerry on the other hand is already widely accepted as a leader in matters of privacy.
I too am curious as to what role, if any, BlackBerry is playing with Alphabet.
PS - Can you believe that the dominant player in this industry labels themselves as Google and Alphabet!?
There is indeed one. You can check this person's tweets: