Apple’s CarPlay Said to Be Powered by BlackBerry’s QNX

After Apple announced the anticipated CarPlay feature late Sunday, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, and Ferrari unveiled photos and videos of the initiative. But this is just the beginning; other car manufacturers are said to include the feature in cars rolling out later this year.

CarPlay is Apple’s move to the car manufacturing industry: It brings the iOS experience on four wheels, as users will be able to use Siri and the car’s in-dash display to answers calls, send messages, get spoken turn-by-turn directions, etc.

For those who expected the mirroring functionality to be based on Airplay, here is something that will surprise you: The CarPlay system actually runs on top of QNX, N4BB has found.

“Connectivity to smartphones and other mobile devices is a key strength of QNX Software Systems’ platform for car infotainment systems, and many automakers and tier one automotive suppliers use our platform to implement smartphone/head-unit integration in their vehicles. We have a long-standing partnership with Apple to ensure high-quality connectivity with their devices, and this partnership extends to support for Apple CarPlay.”

Apple is a strategic partner for QNX in automotive, according to the company’s website. The move is rather interesting, as QNX is a BlackBerry subsidiary.

While this doesn’t mean that CarPlay is a QNX product, it is interesting that Apple has partnered up with the struggling Canadian manufacturer to bring the iOS experience into the car.