SAN FRANCISCO — March 28, 2012 — When a vehicle rolled off the assembly line 20 years ago, locked inside was all the potential for which it was designed. For all their finely tuned capabilities, these cars performed as well as the skills of the person behind the wheel.
About five years ago, that started to change with the launch of Ford SYNC, powered by Microsoft. Drivers were soon able to interact and stay connected with their mobile devices using voice recognition. And the launch of SYNC with MyFord Touch in 2010 took the ability to interact a step further, adding touch interaction into the mix. Since coming to market, 4 million cars with Ford SYNC have been sold, and the automaker recently launched the technology to drivers in Europe.
Jim Buczkowski, technical fellow and director of Electrical and Electronics at Ford, took stage recently with Kevin Dallas, Microsoft’s general manager of Windows Embedded, at IDC’s SMART TECHnology World to discuss the companies’ collaboration in creating the connected car experience and how it will empower drivers and passengers.
In the not-too-distant future, drivers will be able to analyze data in real time, allowing them to monitor a variety of vehicle diagnostics and adjust their driving styles to maximize efficiency or performance — a vision called the “connected car.”
For example, when drivers enter the garage in the morning, their connected cars might have already used cloud-based services and location awareness to warm itself to the preferred temperature, tuned the radio to the same stations they had been listening to while getting ready, and signaled the garage door to close at the appropriate time without the driver taking any action.
The connected car then becomes part of a more convenient and seamless driving experience that is personalized for the individual and experienced through Ford SYNC built on the Windows Embedded Automotive platform.
This is one more example of how Windows Embedded is powering specialized devices that work together to create intelligent systems, and Ford was one of the first automobile manufacturers to work with Microsoft in this field. Buczkowski said Ford’s goal was to see how “consumer electronics and in-car experiences could be connected to create new driver experiences.”
It goes to show what happens when you pair automotive and technology icons.
