Qnx

Away from phones and focused on products for businesses.

The new partnership goes beyond the companies' work together on Sync 3.

Apple's grabbing software engineers in the North from QNX.

Dan Dodge comes from BlackBerry's QNX automotive software arm.

Ford isn't completely abandoning its partnership with Microsoft. The tech company will supply the wireless updates to models equipped with the new Sync 3 infotainment system.

Episode #369 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Steven Ewing and Michael Harley talk about the 2015 Porsche Macan, what slow global sales of the Toyota GT86 may mean for performance upgrades, Ford moving to BlackBerry's QNX platform for the next version of Sync, and a possible new wave of head-up displays. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of

Ask the average consumer – at least, those who follow the goings-on in the automotive industry – which carmaker they'd most closely associate Microsoft, and the answer you'd most likely get would be Ford. The Blue Oval automaker, after all, was at the forefront of bringing Microsoft technology into cars with its pioneering Sync system, and, though reality didn't turn out as such, Ford's

QNX – now owned by Blackberry – ripped the guts out of a 997 Porsche 911 Cabrio to showcase its latest blend of infotainment, navigation and connectivity solutions. If nothing else, it's one of the better looking interfaces we found at CES.

Ask the average auto enthusiast what RIM stands for and they'll probably think of wheels. To gadget freaks, however, it's shorthand for Research In Motion, the Canadian electronics company behind the Blackberry. Those two worlds could be heading on a collision course, however, if the latest corporate acquisition is any indication.