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Windows For Devices
your Windows® embedded community
The other screen (shown above right) will provide a visual representation of turn-by-turn navigation, with turn arrows, street names, and distance-to-turn information. As a result, drivers will no longer need to pay for GPS hardware upgrades or third-party receivers, says Ford.
Meanwhile, an enhanced version of the system called "MyFord Touch" will add an eight-inch touchscreen display in a vehicle's center stack, plus a hub (pictured below left) below it that offers audio and video inputs, two USB ports, and an SD card reader. Ford says motorists will be able to purchase SD cards containing maps, enhanced POI (point of interest) information, and voice data, making it easy to upgrade to 3D maps (below right) that are regularly updated.
As well as being used for an enhanced navigation display (above), the eight-inch touchscreen can also display: driver-selected wallpaper (pictured top right); frequently accessed settings such as phone functions, navigation destinations, climate control settings or audio controls (pictured, middle right); or driver-selected "hot buttons" that can be tied to almost any controllable system in the car (pictured, bottom right). Display settings are memorized and stored according to a driver's unique key, allowing each user of a car to customize the screens to his or her own preferences, Ford adds.
Even more intriguing, Ford officials promised attendees at today's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that the MyFord Touch screen will also be able to display third-party applications that have been loaded onto the system, such as social networking (Twitter) and internet radio (Pandora and Stitcher) clients. Such applications, enabled via a newly available API (application programming interface), will work via a driver's mobile phone, which provides the system with its wide area connectivity.
Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president for global product development, said, "By adopting an 'open-developer' model for Sync, we are able to defend our advantage and press our lead exponentially. That's why weve developed a Sync developer tool kit and are making it available to our trusted partners and soon to the developer community."
| OUR VERDICT: Just what we were waiting for -- having people's tweets read to us while we drive |
As well as partnering with Pandora, Stitcher, and Twitter, Ford says, it has also allied with MapQuest, so that vehicle owners can use their personal computers to plan a journey, then send the data to their cars using a simple "send to Sync" command. According to the company, the information is received in-car by a driver's mobile phone using voice technology; therefore, a user does not have to have a data plan or even own a smartphone.
Other partnerships
Subsequent to today's CES speech by Ford executives, the company's hardware and software partners issued press releases revealing details of the Sync upgrade. For example, Freescale says the system will rely on its i.MX516 applications processor and S12XEP100 microcontroller.
Similarly, Bsquare has taken credit for implementing the system's Ford-designed user interface, including integration of Adobe Flash. The company says it "also integrated several other technologies including speech recognition, navigation, media, climate controls, and phone for a seamless user experience."
Carey Butler, Bsquare's vice president of professional engineering services, stated, "From the amount of information Sync controls to how it can receive software updates, this truly is a ground-breaking product that will change the auto industry. It is far and away the most advanced in-vehicle infotainment system to be implemented and has made Ford cars best in class for technology. The first version of Sync was impressive, but this blows the doors off."
Elektrobit, meanwhile, says it worked with Ford to provide an API for Sync. Artur Seidel, the company's vice president and general manager for automotive software, stated, "Providing third-party developers of phone platforms with a Ford Sync-enabled API will significantly help create new applications. For example, it took only a few weeks to develop a phone demo application providing the vehicle occupants with Ford Sync control of Pandora Internet radio stations."
Background
Microsoft's Windows Embedded Auto software has already been adopted by Fiat (as Blue&Me), Ford (Sync and Ford Work Solutions), and, most recently, Kia Motors America (Uvo). Yesterday, a key components supplier, Continental AG, also announced a modular MMP (Multimedia Platform) that will apparently make Windows tech readily be available even to automakers who have not cut their own deals with Microsoft.
"Windows Embedded Auto" is merely the latest name for Microsoft's Windows CE-based automotive technology. Microsoft's Windows CE for Automotive was first released in 1998, since when it has evolved into a variety of product offerings. For example, in 2003 it was called Windows Automotive (2003), and by 2006 it was known as Windows Mobile for Automotive.
Unlike with many Microsoft products, however, naming is secondary, since the core technology is designed to be adapted by automaker customers and offered under their own brands. The Windows CE-based software made its debut in Europe and South America on Fiat vehicles, where it is known as Blue&Me. It was then released in the U.S. by Ford as Sync, on passenger cars. Kia, meanwhile, announced yesterday that it will adopt the technology this summer as Uvo.
The addition of Microsoft technology has apparently helped drive auto sales, even in a difficult market. Ford, which first introduced Sync two years ago, said as of last March that the technology is now installed in more than one million vehicles. In January, the automaker said it would expand its system to include the following new elements:
Availability
According to Ford, the upgraded version of Sync will first be shown off in the Lincoln MKX crossover (where it will be branded as "MyLincoln Touch," with upgraded graphics) at next week's North American Auto Show in Detroit. It will subsequently "begin to migrate across the company's full product portfolio," Ford adds.
More information on Microsoft's Auto 4.1 software may be found on the company's website, here.
