BMW Goes Open Source!
BMW will be the first Car manufacture that I know off that goes Open Source. BMW is developing an open-source platform for vehicle electronics. By taking the open-source approach, rather than using proprietary software, BMW aims to allow providers of infotainment services to develop plug-and-play applications. BMW is asking other automakers to join in its effort. But four other automakers that along with BMW took part in a panel discussion Tuesday at Convergence 2008, a conference on automotive electronics, are not as far along in their consideration of an open-source platform. Of the five panelists, only BMW's said that his company would have an open-source platform in a vehicle of 200,000 or more units in the next five to seven years. Electrical and electronics engineers from BMW, Chrysler, Ford Motor, General Motors and Honda R&D participated on the panel. The open-source Linux system was created by BMW, Wind River Systems Inc. and Intel Corp. for the in-vehicle infotainment...