The automobile has matured very nicely over the past few decades. There was a time when the automobile was nothing more than a steam powered bicycle. These wheeled vehicle's did not transform overnight. It was a collaboration of over three hundred years and over one hundred thousand patents. Men like Ferdinand Verbiest, Frank Duryea and Henry Ford were visionaries and stewards of the automobile. We have taken these steam-powered vehicles and turned them into technological wonders. Where once cars only came in black and the average speed was 13 MPH - today you have cars that will park themselves and mitigate collisions.
The Ford Motor Company has played a critical roll in America's automobile history. They were fathers of the assembly line, have been family controlled for over 100 years and are the authors of "The Way Forward." Today Ford continues its' rich traditions and continues to innovate and impress. They are forging ahead with technologies that will improve customer experience like - electric vehicles, hybrid cars and the Ford SYNC.
Ford SYNC was developed by Ford. They explain
SYNC is an easy-to-use in-car connectivity system that allows you to operate most popular MP3 players, Bluetooth-enabled phones and USB drives with simple voice commands.
SYNC is based on the Microsoft Auto platform. This is a Microsoft Windows CE based operating system for use on automotive computer systems. The most impressive feature is the hands free-calling. Other features include - Turn by Turn Navigation, 911 Assist, Music Search, Vehicle Health Report, My Favorites, Business Search, Real-time Traffic and Audible Text.
At CES 2010, Ford announced MyFord Touch.
"MyFord delivers a premium interior experience that will help consumers fall in love with their vehicles again," said Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development. "It integrates all our signature features so customers will know exactly what they're going to get in any Ford vehicle they may find themselves driving, no matter where they are in the world."
MyFord Touch replaces the conventional buttons, knobs and gauges. They are now replaced by voice commands, LCD's and slide bars. In the instrument cluster you have dual 4.2-inch LCD screens which are managed by the five-way control pad on the steering wheel. The selections on the left LCD screen are - gauge mode, trip 1 & 2, fuel economy, settings and information. The feature groups on the right LCD screen are - entertainment, phone, navigation and climate. As you might have already guessed the right control pad controls the right LCD screen and the left control pad controls the left LCD screen.
The crowning jewel is the 8-inch touch screen in the center stack. It houses the four features groups, from the right LCD, each in one of the four quadrants of the touch screen. Right below the touch screen are two touch sensitive slide bars - one allows you to control the volume while the other allow you to control the fan speed.
If that was not enough, the Media Hub is well - your media hub. It houses a SD slot, three RCA jacks, a MP3 jack and a USB port which can be used with an air card to turn your Ford vehicle into a mobile hot spot.
MyFord Touch will be available on the redesigned 2011 Ford Edge and the 2012 Ford Focus. Ford also has the MyLincoln Touch, which is for Lincoln vehicles. It will be standard equipment on the 2011 Lincoln MKX.
With all these Ford advancements - I wonder what good old Henry Ford would be saying at CES?