Ford is having a love affair with the Microsoft SYNC option which costs $395. The latest is that CNET and The Detroit News are saying that the Microsoft SYNC is a cool option and Ford says sales of their Ford Focus is up due to the SYNC option. In the AutoBlog article it states:

According to Ford, consumers are choosing to add SYNC to their cars two to one over those who skip it, and Microsoft, which supplies the software to run SYNC, has noticed this popularity. The software giant from Redmond has pretty big plans for its Automotive Business Unit beyond supporting Ford’s SYNC system, and hopes to give its software system “daily relevance” within five years by networking infotainment systems with each other. A local search function, for instance, could offer multiple possible routes based on up-to-the-minute information gathered from the network.

So what is SYNC? According to CNET it is:

The most advanced technological feature of the Sync system is the ability to play songs from a connected media player via voice command. When a new player is plugged in for the first time, Sync takes a few minutes to index all the audio files, after which drivers can use voice commands to select music by genre, album, artist or even track title. Commands such as, “Play artist Rolling Stones,” or, “Play track ‘Brown Sugar,’” will give drivers direct control over their music library. According to Microsoft, the same voice-selection interface also works for digital audio tracks stored on USB thumb drives.

Microsoft is also looking at SYNC as a advertising source to increase revenues.

Commenst welcome.

Full AutoBlog article is here.

Full CNET article is here.

[tags]ford, microsoft, SYNC, play, music, voice, command, control, driver, usb, drives, [/tags]