Microsoft Teams Up With Ford
Sunday, January 7th, 2007
Ford Motor Co. is planning to offer an in-vehicle communication and entertainment system from Microsoft Corp. as an option in a dozen Ford models beginning later this year and in almost all of its vehicles next year. The companies say they will debute the plan Sunday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit confirming earlier reports of an impending agreement. It is the first such agreement between Microsoft and a U.S. automaker part of the Redmond company’s effort to expand into new areas of digital entertainment and consumer information systems.
“It is a very important design win for Microsoft,” said Phil Magney, president and principal analyst at the Minnetonka, Minn.-based Telematics Research Group. The technology connects to a mobile phone for making hands-free calls, and to a portable media device for controlling and playing music through the audio system. Ford will use the name “Sync” for its version of the Microsoft system.
Microsoft will address it later in the day during Chairman Bill Gates’ presentation on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Microsoft previously struck a similar deal with Italy’s Fiat Auto, the company behind the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands. But the Ford pact secures a key spot for Microsoft’s software among the Big 3 North American automakers.
Ford, meanwhile, says it sees the Microsoft system as one way to differentiate its vehicles in the eyes of car buyers. The rollout is expected to start later this calendar year in 2008 model year vehicles and expand in the 2009 model year. The automaker’s “recovery as a business depends upon having products that customers absolutely must own,” said Gary Jablonski, Ford’s manager for infotainment system product development.
The system will show contacts and other information retrieved from the phone on a small display in the car, giving drivers the option of browsing their address books to place calls using voice commands or buttons inside the car. Another feature will read incoming text messages through the speakers and let drivers respond with a number of preset replies. In addition, the system will connect via USB port with iPods and other music devices, including Microsoft’s Zune, to let drivers browse and play music using voice commands or buttons.
Microsoft has worked out a deal to let the system play songs encoded in Apple’s FairPlay AAC format. Previous versions of the Microsoft Auto system played songs from iPods in unprotected formats, but not those encoded in that way. Songs played through the car audio system will still reside on the iPod or other music device, which must be plugged in for the music to play.
Tags: microsoft, windows, ford motor company
Share This: Email This To A Friend or Social Bookmark It!
If you were interested in Microsoft Teams Up With Ford, you may also be interested in:
2005 Ford Mustang Roush: Jack Roush, known for his love of Mustangs in the air and on the ground, owns several professional racing teams from 34 NASCAR champions to
Ford Taurus Returns For 2008: It seems popular for automakers to discontinue a car and than to bring it back a year or two later. Ford has done this with
2007 Ford Mustang California Special Edition: In 1968, Ford introuced several GT-based Mustangs as regional cars to the market. One of these rare and classy cars was the Ford Mustang GT/CS,