30 Ways QNX Touches Your Life

Known the world over for its ultra-reliable software, QNX® Software Systems is celebrating its 30th anniversary in business. Over the past 30 years, QNX software technology has become a big part of everyday life — from controlling hands-free systems in cars to delivering renewable energy to homes.

People encounter QNX technology every day when they:

1. Use Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube — QNX technology provides the software foundation for the world’s highest-capacity routers, which handle the data, voice, and video traffic for hundreds of millions of Internet users every day.
2. Flip a light switch — QNX technology controls thousands of power-generation systems worldwide, from wind turbines to nuclear stations to hydroelectric plants.
3. Call for help — By leveraging the unmatched reliability of QNX technology, 9 1 1 dispatch systems deliver emergency assistance 24/7, nonstop.
4. Call for help on the road — The QNX-based OnStar system, deployed in dozens of car models, automatically calls for help in a crash and can even provide emergency responders with the car's exact location.
5. Use green energy — QNX-based power-grid simulators help utilities integrate electricity from solar panels, wind farms, and other renewable energy sources.
6. Save gas — QNX-based traffic control systems reduce fuel consumption by optimizing traffic flow, minimizing traffic jams, and reducing waits at intersections.
7. Eat a jelly donut — QNX-based food inspection systems detect dangerous contaminants and can even spot items with missing ingredients, such as jelly donuts that have no jelly.
8. Get a caffeine fix — Car navigation systems based on QNX technology not only provide automatic route selection and turn-by-turn directions, but can even track down the nearest coffee shop if you’re thirsting for a latté.
9. Shop online — Online retailers like Amazon.com and Avnet rely on QNX-based warehouse automation systems to move massive amounts of merchandise every day.
10. Watch TV — QNX technology keeps couch potatoes happy, controlling television stations, delivering cable signals, and even powering universal remotes.
11. Watch an action flick — QNX technology powers motion-control systems that create some of Hollywood’s most spectacular special effects and stunts.
12. Take a train — From high-speed trains to subway cars, QNX-based systems go the distance, controlling locomotives and coordinating railway traffic.
13. Fly in a plane — QNX technology is at the core of pilot-training simulators and air-traffic control systems worldwide.
14. Board a boat — QNX-based navigation and radar systems keep cruise ships on course by helping crews navigate through fog, bad weather, and narrow estuaries.
15. Buy shoes — Footwear vendors like ASICS and Brown Shoe rely on QNX-based warehouse systems to move their products from the factory floor to the shoe store.
16. Keep cool in the checkout line — QNX technology controls the HVAC systems in many of the biggest big-box stores in North America.
17. Stay connected while driving — Using innovative QNX software, car infotainment systems connect seamlessly to Bluetooth phones, MP3 players, USB sticks, and a variety of other devices and services.
18. Build a sundeck — Using QNX-based machine-vision systems, sawmill operators extract the maximum amount of lumber from every tree.
19. Mail a letter — QNX technology helps mail-sorting machines push the performance envelope, processing up to 40,000 letters per hour.
20. Visit the doctor — QNX technology brings reliability to a host of diagnostic devices, including ECG machines, angiography systems, cardiac monitors, and bone density analyzers.
21. Take medicine — QNX-based vision systems scan for defects in a variety of manufactured products, from pharmaceutical blister packs to the lids of peanut butter jars.
22. Get better — QNX-based cancer treatment devices use proton beams to target tumors precisely, without damaging nearby organs.
23. Wash socks — A QNX-based system automatically configures control panels for washing machines and tests each panel to make sure it functions correctly.
24. Breathe clean air — QNX-based building-automation systems help factories, universities, and other large facilities slash power consumption by up to 50%, reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned for electricity.
25. Go to college — Students and professors worldwide use QNX technology to perform medical research, explore new forms of energy generation, and even discover new planets.
26. See better — Using a QNX-based LASIK system, doctors perform bladeless laser surgery to help people reduce their dependency on glasses and contact lenses.
27. Buy a book — Bookstores throughout North America rely on QNX-based point-of-sale systems to deliver highly personalized service to their customers.
28. Play video poker — QNX technology powers intercasino gaming systems that can pay out multi-million-dollar winnings, with zero tolerance for error.
29. Drive over a bridge — QNX technology helps reduce drawbridge congestion by controlling automated bridge raising systems.
30. Go for a digital drive — QNX-based digital instrument clusters are changing the face of in-car computing, combining virtual speedometers with navigation displays, backup cameras, and other content to provide drivers with the most appropriate information for every drive mode or road condition.