Ford Motor unveiled the third generation of its Sync in-car connectivity system Thursday with a promise that it will be simpler and have a more natural voice-command interface.
It is a whole new system that drops past partner Microsoft for Canada’s QNX software from Blackberry. And it drops the MyFordTouch and MyLincolnTouch names for Sync 3.
The Ford-Microsoft relationship dates back to meetings between Bill Ford and Bill Gates and led to the introduction of Sync in 2007. But the Microsoft-based system has suffered from bugs over the years which affected quality scores for Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
The QNX system allows Ford to create an infotainment system with a simpler layout, larger fonts, and a touchscreen that moves with a swipe up, down or across, with pinch-to-zoom like modern tablets.
The result is a system that is easier and more intuitive to use and maintains buttons and knobs for the traditionalists.
Sync 3 will be rolled out on more than half the Ford and Lincoln vehicles in the U.S. by the end of 2016 and then continue to expand globally, said Don Butler, Ford executive director of connected vehicle and services. He would not say on which vehicle it will debut next year.
The system will have a different look for the luxury Lincoln brand but the same functionality.
“It’s doing everything better,” says Sherif Marakby, global director of electrical and electronic systems engineering for Ford.
Said Michele Krebs, senior analysts for AutoTrader.com, MyFordTouch (and Sync before it) “has been the modern-day equivalent of Edsel for the automaker. So good riddance MyFordTouch. What’s more important than the name, however, is the ease-of-use and quality function of Ford’s infotainment system, whatever they want to call it.
Krebs cited data from AutoTrader’s 2014 In-Vehicle Technology Shopper Influence Study that showd 48% of consumers will would away from a car they like if they think the technology is too difficult to use, 48% of vehicle owners believe it should take less than 15 minutes to learn how to use vehicle technology features and that 56% of vehicle owners would switch to a different car brand if the one they were considering didn’t offer technology features they want
Sync was introduced in 2007 to much critical acclaim, making Ford’s small cars hip and the company was seen as tech-savvy for its ability to connect a driver’s smartphone with the vehicle.
Read the original article (USA Today)
