Sync3 is designed for hands-free use, but a new touch screen is similar to a smartphone or tablet.
In a ‘one more time with feeling’ encore, Ford Motor changed its tune on its much-derided and pioneering MyTouch voice recognition system by saying today that its future generation of infotainment and touch screen systems will be marketed as Sync3 globally.
Ford claimed – once again – faster performance, more conversational voice recognition, an intuitive smartphone-like touch screen and an easier-to-understand graphical interface to help connect and control their smartphone on the road. Sync3 3 begins arriving on new vehicles next year. Ford also claimed it reduces on-screen complexity and prioritizes the control options customers use most.
The home screen has three zone choices – Navigation, Audio and Phone. Tile-like icons are on the screen along with a quick access function bar along the bottom. Ford said it used 22,000 customer comments and suggestions, plus research clinics, market surveys and tech industry benchmarking. More than ten million Sync/ MyTouch systems are on the road.
Ford was first to bring voice control to in-vehicle apps with AppLink, that allows customers to connect their smartphone to their vehicle and control their compatible apps using voice commands or buttons on the vehicle display screen. AppLink now discovers smartphone apps including Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, NPR One, SiriusXM Radio and iHeartRadio Auto, and displays their graphics and branding. Music and news apps are automatically displayed along with other media sources, including AM/FM or SiriusXM.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
