BMW pushes for open source platform

At the Convergence 2008 automotive electronics conference held in Orlando, Florida, this week, BMW revealed it is looking for partners to develop an open source computing platform for cars, says Tech Spot.

BMW says it plans to have the plug-and-play open source system in a vehicle selling 200 000 or more units over the next five to seven years.

A number of other automakers have also expressed interest in open source platforms, including Honda and Ford, which currently use Microsoft-developed systems for their vehicles.

The growth of on-demand online video will accelerate with the arrival of new technology that seamlessly combines TV and the Internet, according to Live-PR.

Mark Sinclair, features editor for Your Business Channel, says: “The shift towards online on-demand video will accelerate with the development of new technology like TV sets that stay permanently connected to the Internet and these are already being marketing by electronics giants like Sony and Panasonic.”

According to Sinclair, convergence is great news for small business looking for a marketing platform. “What we're hearing from leading business experts is that there are tonnes of fantastic marketing opportunities for small business online - things like producing online video content and social networking which allow businesses to communicate with their audience.”

Central Telecom, a UK provider of IP telephony, has won the title of Enterprise Converged Solution of the Year at the seventh annual Channel Network Awards held at The Hilton in London, reports The Earth Times.

This is the fifth year in succession that Central has retained the title. The company won for designing and implementing a converged Nortel solution for the Cheshire Building Society.

The Channel Network Awards, which is organised by BPL Business, recognises best practice in client solutions and encourages channel partnerships and relationships across the whole of the IT, telephony, voice, data convergence and Internet industries.