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Ford ditching Microsoft in favor of BlackBerry QNX for next-gen Sync?

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 CEO was recently touted as a potential future head of the Redmond-based software giant. But that relationship, according to the latest reports, could be coming to an end.
Alan Mullaly kiboshed the idea of leaving Dearborn for Redmond, but more importantly Ford is tipped to be ditching Microsoft in developing its next-generation Sync system. In its place, Ford is expected to partner with BlackBerry's QNX division.
Now, before you go balking "BlackBerry?! But they're finished!" consider that QNX is (or at least was) an independent entity that Research In Motion (as BlackBerry's Ontario-based parent company was then known) just happened to have bought back in 2010. QNX provides control systems to everything from nuclear power plants and UAVs to automakers like Audi, BMW and Porsche.

Leno recalls '90s showdown with Tim Allen and his mullet

Not many of us have buddies with garages full of classic cars, but that isn't the case for Jay Leno and Tim Allen. Of course, one of the advantages for two guys with such vast collections is occasionally getting to pit their cars against each other. The two comedians did just that in the mid-'90s with a burnout battle on The Tonight Show between Allen in a race-prepped Mustang and Leno in a drag racer. After some time away from regular television, Leno is returning to the airwaves with a Jay Leno's Garage series premiering on Oct. 7 (tonight) at 10:00 p.m. ET on CNBC. Let this clip serve as another taste of what to expect for the new TV show's mix of comedy and cars. After reminiscing about the old days in a gorgeous garage, the comedians get into two modern machines to reprise the classic challenge – after a little trash talk anyway. Don't worry because the YouTube series isn't going anywhere, though.

TRANSLOGIC 147: CES 2014 Autonomous Vehicles

We head back to CES in Las Vegas to check on the progress of autonomous vehicles in 2014. We go hands-free on the highway with Audi, narrowly avoid a collision with Ford and hear all about BMW's drifting driverless car. But first we take a ride on Induct's self-driving Navia shuttle.