BlackBerry has signed a deal to work directly with Ford, to directly supply its QNX operating system to the automaker as a Tier One partner. Ford currently uses QNX in its SYNC 3 IVI tech (in-vehicle infotainment), in modules that it buys from Panasonic Automotive. BlackBerry hopes that the new relationship will open doors for QNX inside Ford, to move into other areas of Ford’s connected car ambitions. Claiming deployments in some 60m vehicles on the road (up around 10m in the past year), and the number one spot in both IVI systems and telematics, BlackBerry’s QNX has been a very quiet success for the company – which has never exactly publicly sung the praises of QNX despite weathering a…