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Our computers on wheels, formerly called car, reach critical mass in terms of global connectivity. Ford has just announced that delivered more than 5 million vehicles equipped with the SYNC connectivity system developed with Microsoft there five years. For the manufacturer, this connectivity is the gateway for the car to become "the most intelligent well in your possession."

"SYNC has helped us evolve as a car manufacturer, to think and act more like a technology company, with a new level of openness and access that has forever changed the way we view our business and respond to our customers, "said Paul Mascarenas, CTO and vice president of the branch of Ford Research and Innovation.

"We turned the car into a platform offering vast opportunities for developers working with us continue to add value through new features brought to the rhythm now expected by consumers. With more than one billion smartphones in use today in the world, we believe that mobile connectivity will continue to be the cornerstone of our future strategy. »

SYNC has been designed so to adapt and change with new technological developments. While cars and trucks usually remain outstanding for more than 10 years on average, consumers often replace their electronic devices every two or three years to keep up with the latest technological advances. The SYNC development team created an architecture based on the Windows Embedded Automotive platform that supports open protocols such as USB and Bluetooth so that most devices can connect for media playback and communications.

When SYNC was first announced January 7, 2007 at the International CES, the presentation included iPod, Motorola RAZR flip phone and Palm TREO smartphone. Just two days later, Apple revolutionized the mobile phone and gave birth to the economy of applications by announcing its first iPhone.

New capabilities
When customers began driving the first car equipped with SYNC, the Focus 2008, in the fall of that year, most of them used SYNC to make calls hands-free with their feature phone and listen music from an iPod with voice commands provided by Nuance voice recognition technology.
Five years later, Ford noted that smartphones are powered by a variety of platforms, including mobile operating systems iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone. "With their built-in storage, processing power that rivals desktop computers there are five years old and fast wireless data connections, these phones still work with these vehicles equipped with SYNC original," says the automaker, now or computer manufacturer.

The system also supports the new capabilities available on most Ford vehicles like AppLink, the emergency service 911 Assist, Vehicle Health Report reports and SYNC Services, a network of services based on cloud computing that provides reports on traffic, turn-by-turn guides of the search business, news, sports scores and movie listings.

"The car is a rich source of real-time data"

"It is clear today that the development of an open and scalable connectivity platform was crucial to the success of SYNC because it has allowed us to keep up with the consumer," said Paul Mascarenas. "With SYNC, Ford vehicles are no longer confined to technology at the plant, they can keep pace with changing trends general public via simple software updates. »

Connectivity of cloud computing, embedded sensors and data access create intelligent vehicle experience. Other advances, such as natural language processing and machine learning, could allow SYNC provide a more natural interaction between car and driver, enabling a more personalized driving experience and practice. "The car is a rich source of real-time data; combined with the processing power available in the cloud, it could become the smartest although you will ever own, "predicts Paul Mascarenas.