Way back in January at CES, we got a personal demonstration of Ford's SYNC from the Microsoft Auto program manager in Vegas, and later, another demonstration from Ford in Detroit. Except for being slow to use and not all that useful, SYNC wasn't terribly complicated.
But FoMoCo isn't taking any chances and wants to ensure that the high-tech merging of their cars and your gadgets won't go over the heads of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury buyers. The carmaker is offering all its dealers extra training on the use of SYNC before the system goes on sale this fall.
Personally, we wonder if Ford is training its dealers how to sell the system more so than how to use it. As we watched the demonstration at CES we were never wowed or shown anything we hadn't seen before. It's good Ford is upping its in-car technology, but we aren't inclined to think that SYNC will be what drives buyers into Ford dealerships. Then again maybe training could help. At my last visit to a Ford dealership, it took the salesman 15 minutes to figure out how to work the Edge's power-folding rear seat.
Click through to the jump to see a video of our Ford demo.
[Source: Automotive News, subscription required]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1337 @ Aug 7th 2007 10:43AM
I wish Ford had some products worth buying with this. This would be nice in a BMW 3-series. The plastics in the Lincoln are appalling.
Compy386 @ Aug 7th 2007 10:48AM
You don't think this is useful? I don't know what price tag Ford will put on it, but if it's reasonable in price this thing is extremely useful. I don't know how many times I've wished that I could make calls through my bluetooth on my cell phone (this system lets you transfer calls without hanging up) or select a specific song on my playlist through voice. Plus it allows me to connect USB hard drives and play music. I don't own an MP3 player because I don't have any place to use it except in my car. With this I can just use those 2 gig free after rebate pen drives in my car. Nothing the guy in the video did took longer than 15 seconds. Quick and simple. You gotta really hate Ford to call this useless and slow. Just hoping the pricing doesn't get in the way. I can't see myself paying more than a couple hundred bucks for this thing.
ItGuy @ Aug 7th 2007 10:55AM
Not me. I (and I'd guess many others) don't want MS anywhere NEAR my car. So I'll either stay away from Ford or just skip Sync. Hopefully they will get the message.
Compy386 @ Aug 7th 2007 4:42PM
I doubt most people really care that it's made by Microsoft since they still control 90% of the OS market. Personally I would have preferred some smaller audio maker like Creative, but most people don't even know who they are (plus I doubt they can do something quite like this). At least it's not made by Apple which makes everything proprietary and impossible to fix if it's ever broken.
Robert @ Aug 7th 2007 2:18PM
Well, it's a self-contained system within the car that doesn't affect the engine's computer or any of the other electronic components in the car. So, I'm sure that someone could hack it and download viruses through bluetooth to your mobile devices, but that is a risk with any system, not just an MS based one. Your car, however, would run even if someone created the master virus that crashed the system.
ItGuy @ Aug 7th 2007 3:31PM
That's nice, but I have 2 issues:
1) I don't want MS dominating another industry
2) I use a Treo 650 and probably will get an iPhone. Where is MS's incentive to make this work well with these devices? How well does it integrate with the iPod and Blackberries vs Zune and WinMobile.
Simply, I don't trust MS at all.
ItGuy @ Aug 7th 2007 6:13PM
Guess you really don't know Apple that well.
If by proprietary and hard to fix, I guess you mean simple XML files vs a registry for configuration. Or other less obfuscated configurations for the OS. Like no DLL's, simple plain English configuration (Library, StatrupItems, etc.)
If anything, Proprietary = Microsoft. Just try migrating out of most MS software.
And I'd not be too suprised with people not wanting MS solutions. IDC reported the other week that Apple's growth has been outpacing the PC industry. People are expressing preferences for non-MS solutions.
Tsunami Racer @ Aug 7th 2007 11:16AM
"what can i do to put you in this i-pod today? so, what do you want your monthly payments to be on your bluetooth? gee, i can't discount that cuz, you see, they put that rust proofing on the SD card slots at the factory..."
Mike @ Aug 7th 2007 11:36AM
I love how one blogger is writing about how dangerous gadgetry is in vehicles and that the industry needs to find ways to solve this new problem, the next is ripping the first system to make voice activation a reality for integration of music and cell phones. Slow- maybe a bit (not really for a 1st gen of something like this), useless- I have to disagree.
Maybe as with the rest of the bluetooth and MP3 controls, you can just get distracted and look at your dashboard the whole time, maybe you won't even hit someone.
They already announced the pricing by the way, it's $400. Which seems very reasonable to me. On top of that, they already said they'd be upgrading firmware and adding options that will be able to be retroactive to existing units. Sounds really useless to me.
You must really hate Ford or probably domestics in general.
Infinihertz @ Aug 7th 2007 2:38PM
As far as I know, pricing has still not yet been announced. If you have a link to where it has been, please let me know, because I'm curious what the final price point will be.
If you go to build & price a Flex (or possibly at other places), Ford lets you include Sync and has a price for it, but it is inconsistent on purpose, to see if people include it or not at different costs. I've seen the option range from $250-450, and that's from only logging in 3 times.
Regardless, pricing should come out soon, because Sync debuts on the 2008 Focus, which comes out either this month or next.
Mike @ Aug 8th 2007 3:28PM
I heard it from a little birdy.
1337 @ Aug 8th 2007 10:20AM
Ford website currently says that Sync is $430 in the Flex.
Mike Botros @ Aug 7th 2007 11:48AM
Not to mention it comes standard in Lincolns. Sync is actually making me buy a Ford, Mecury, Lincoln when my lease is up in Feb, even though I was considering the new Mazda 6.
Jeff @ Aug 7th 2007 12:17PM
Just what the world needs, more gadgets to take our eye off the road. Drivers yacking on cell phones, changing lanes and trying to synch their balckberry and iPod with their car's on board computer all while driving 65 in a 35 zone.
No thanks,
James @ Aug 7th 2007 2:21PM
Jeff, you obviously do not understand SYNC. It is technology that _keeps_ your eyes on the road. Understand it, first.
Jeff @ Aug 7th 2007 2:57PM
Lighten up, it was a f'ing joke.
Don @ Aug 7th 2007 1:23PM
Ford can't even build reliable power windows and they expect this to work? I wouldn't go near this with a 10 foot pole.
Mallory @ Aug 7th 2007 2:01PM
I can't understand why you're not 'wowed' by this. I can't even get a basic Aux input for my MP3 player on most cars, and now Ford comes out with a REAL entertainment solution and you guys aren't impressed? Whatever. This will weigh heavily into my next car purchase so I do think this will help drive sales. The fact that it's made by Microsoft, the worlds most respected company (look it up), is just icing on the cake. Color me an impressed future Ford customer.
Steve @ Aug 7th 2007 3:23PM
When you first reported on this you said you were impressed. So which one is it? I think it is a wonderful feature. And Please tell me one car where I can get all of these features. If Ford is sooo late to offering this in their cars, then you should be able to tell me atleast one car that I can plug any USB memory storage device (not just an iPod or aux input) into it and play music by using voice commands and take phone calls seamlessly. Also one that reads aloud the song and displays it on the screen. Go ahead...just one.
I think this is an amazing feature and it has definitely made me consider trading in my civic for a new Fusion with sync.It also has a play similar feature and you can say aloud a certain genre or play list. Thats what really gets me going about this!
ItGuy @ Aug 7th 2007 3:33PM
I beleive Nissan/Infiniti has most of this stuff. I've played with the system in the M35/45 and it worked perfectly with my Treo - calling, answering, etc. IIRC they also have a jack for MP3 players/iPods.
So, tell me how this is better?