Rumor: Apple has dozens of software engineers working on a car operating system in Canada

According to Bloomberg, Apple has dozens of software engineers in Canada building a car operating system. Many of the engineers working in Canada were hired over the past year and about two dozen came from BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX, a leading automotive software provider, the article adds, quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter.”

“The engineers now work at an Apple office in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, about a five-minute walk from QNX, the people said. Apple targeted QNX employees because of their experience developing fundamental components of operating systems and power management, a former QNX executive said,” according to Bloomberg. “The most notable Apple hire from QNX was its chief executive officer, Dan Dodge. Since joining Apple’s Project Titan car initiative early this year, he’s taken on a larger role overseeing the car operating system, splitting his time between Canada and California, the people said. Another notable addition is Derrick Keefe, who left QNX last year after more than a decade as a senior engineer.”

Dodge is the co-creator of the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment, a set of pre-integrated and optimized technologies from QNX Software Systems and dozens of ecosystem partners. Designed for flexibility, it “provides development teams with a variety of options for building reliable world-class infotainment systems that keep pace with ongoing advancements in mobile device markets.”