Interview with the founder of QNX Software Systems, dedicated to the release of BlackBerry Tablet OS

Original author: BlackBerry Developer's Blog
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I present to you the translation of an interview with Dan Dodge (one of the founders of QNX Software Systems, the CEO), this portal BlackBerry Developer's Blog.

As you heard, yesterday Mike Lazaridis introduced the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry Tablet OS during his speech at BlackBerry DEVCON 2010. The BlackBerry Tablet OS (developed using QNX Software Systems technology) was designed to deliver unprecedented performance tablet. In honor of this event, Dan Dodge, co-founder and CEO of QNX Software Systems, is with us today, with whom we will talk about the BlackBerry Tablet OS itself and the prospects that it opens up for application developers, web developers and publishers.




Tell us a little about the QNX® Neutrino operating system?

If I were asked to describe QNX Neutrino in one word, that word would be the word "architecture". If you look at the qualities that made QNX Neutrino so successful (reliability, scalability, performance, portability), then all of them are consequences of the microkernel architecture. All of them are hidden in the very heart of the system.

This architecture explains why QNX Neutrino has such a wide range of applications, from Internet routers to automotive systems. Today, you may be using QNX Neutrino without knowing it yourself. It has become part of everyday life and is used to control power plants, TV broadcasts, and even when checking food for safety. And today, we use the flexibility and proven reliability of this architecture in the new BlackBerry Tablet OS.

What are the key features of the BlackBerry Tablet OS you can name that would interest application developers?

First of all, you can develop really cool apps for your BlackBerry PlayBook using Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Flash, and HTML5. Under the hood, we have a dual-core 1-GHz processor, accelerated 3D graphics, HD video and a 7-inch widescreen multi-touch screen. Just think about the potential of applications that can combine all of these technologies!

Further, since the BlackBerry Tablet OS transparently communicates with BlackBerry smartphones, all the enterprise features that our consumers expect to see are also available for the BlackBerry Tablet OS.

Flexibility is built into the DNA of the BlackBerry Tablet OS. We designed it in such a way as to easily support additional frameworks and virtual machines. For example, it was quite expected to see a virtual machine that supports Java applications for BlackBerry 6.

As for the tools, you can use standard tools from Adobe, such as Flash Builder, to develop applications, and they can be debugged directly on the tablet. For applications that require access to the native operating system environment, developers can create and port C / C ++ applications and take full advantage of the QNX® Momentics® Tool Suite, which is based on the standard Eclipse. BlackBerry Tablet OS has built-in support for integrating graphical environments with native code.

We know that the BlackBerry Tablet OS is based on the QNX Neutrino microkernel. What are the key features of QNX Neutrino that opens up?

First and foremost, with the QNX Neutrino microkernel architecture, each application, driver, network stack, and virtual machine runs in a secure address space in the user space. As a result, BlackBerry Tablet OS has a fault-tolerant, self-healing environment that protects programs from damage to each other or the OS itself. This is exactly what each of us wants, using applications from a wide community of developers.

The QNX Neutrino architecture also provides real multitasking on multi-core hardware, and its “multi-core excellence” has been proven for use in the most heavily loaded routers in the world. As a result, it can run several applications at the same time, while ensuring high performance. For other tablet platforms, multitasking is a new feature, but we have it from birth.

What aspect of this project do you find most exciting?

Well, everything is simple: the creation of something that as a result gives more than the sum of its constituent parts. Over the years, QNX and Research In Motion have developed phenomenal products in their fields. This same project made it possible to combine all the best that they have into a single platform, and, it seems to me, very, very successful. Our technologies turned out to be so complementary, and the cultures of our companies so compatible that we managed to create the best tablet OS to date.

Dan, we heard how QNX Neutrino works in many areas. What is your favorite story about its application?

To be honest, I can not choose one. QNX Neutrino manages life-saving medical equipment, car systems that find the nearest coffee shop, and surveillance systems that helped create the International Space Station. Some of these systems are really important, and some are just cool, but they all provide extreme pleasure.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Dan. I will look forward to applications developed for the BlackBerry Tablet OS. Those of you who are interested in more information about the BlackBerry Tablet OS can study the materials and register for the upcoming BlackBerry DevZone webinar. Stay current on the BlackBerry Developer's Blog!

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