Autoblog

Ford is touting SYNC's popularity at CES, where attendees voted to give the technology the CNET People's Voice Award, while Popular Mechanics magazine gave SYNC their Editor's Choice award.

While at CES we got a personal demonstration of the technology from Scott Porter, lead program manager for Microsoft Auto. The system did everything it is advertised to do, from taking voice commands, to integrating Bluetooth phones with the car to reading text messages received on your mobile phone. The most impressive thing it did was work just as well with Apple's iPod as it did with Microsoft's Zune. None of those tricks are anything different from what dozens of other electronics and even automotive companies are currently offering. One difference is the lack of GPS on SYNC. Could the Microsoft and Ford PR campaign pushing SYNC be the biggest reason for the People's Voice award? Then again, maybe we just don't "get" being able to have " :) " read out loud to us by a feminine digital voice as "smiley face," or the usefulness of taking 30 seconds or more to interrupt the music to ask SYNC what song is currently playing. We're looking forward to reading Popular Mechanics reasons for liking SYNC. Perhaps they saw something we didn't.

For the full Ford press release, click through to the jump.

From our viewpoint here at CES, it looks like automotive electronics manufacturers want nothing more than to fill that gaping hole where your 8-track once was with anything but an 8-track.

So far, Pioneer, Eclipse, TomTom, and even Microsoft are among those introducing all-in-one navigation-giving, MP3-playing, iPod-connecting, Bluetooth-equipped, satellite radio-lovin', in-car entertainment systems. All are the same, in that they take a bunch of those gadgets off the top of your dash and squash 'em into a box in the dash.

Microsoft CEO Bill Gates gave his 10th keynote address at CES Sunday night, where he talked about Vista and how it would unify communication in and outside the home. Your car too. Ford's Executive Vice President Mark Fields flew in from Detroit to join Gates in announcing Sync to a huge CES crowd. Gates started the Sync introduction by saying Microsoft wants to give drivers a safer, "single command" automotive interface that combines all elements of vehicle electronics.

Fields said Sync would be available on a dozen models of early 2008 Fords, Lincolns and Mercurys, including the Edge and the new Focus. Sync will bring together man, machine, mp3 player and mobile phone, allowing drivers to integrate all those devices with their cars. Sync will download, via Bluetooth, all address books and personal ringtones from mobile phones. The system can even be set up to read text messages to drivers, and will translate shorthand like LOL and emoticons. Somehow. But we don't see how that could be a good thing. Remember the loathed talking cars of the 80s? Ugh.

Descriptions of Pioneer's and Eclipe's all-in-ones, and a few more CES keynote photos after the jump.