BlackBerry, JLR ink pact for next-generation vehicles

Canadian firm BlackBerry and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) today announced a multi-year agreement to collaborate and develop technology for the automotive manufacturer's next-generation vehicles.

As part of the agreement, BlackBerry will license its QNX and Certicom technology to JLR, as well as assign a team of engineers to support in the development of new Electronic Control Unit (ECU) modules, a statement said.

The first ECU project will be a next-generation infotainment system, it added.

No financial details of the deal were disclosed.

UK-based JLR was bought by Tata Group in 2008.

"Working with BlackBerry will enable us to develop the safe and secure next-generation connected car our customers want," JLR Vehicle Engineering Director Dave Nesbitt said.

Together with BlackBerry engineers, JLR will be able to access the most dynamic and up-to-date software to ensure the highest security required for its connected vehicles, he added.

"We are at a pivotal moment, where innovative automakers, such as JLR, are realising they need to take an active role in defining the software architecture for their vehicles," BlackBerry QNX SVP and GM John Wall said.

Stating that connected and autonomous vehicles will react and drive based on rich data, Blackberry's platforms help process data efficiently and keep it secure and trusted, he added.

BlackBerry provides OEMs with technology to protect and mitigate hardware, software, applications and end-to-end systems from cyberattacks.

It has recently seen automotive design wins from Baidu, Delphi, Denso, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Visteon, and others.