Allan Mulally, CEO of Ford
Ford and Microsoft introduced Sync, the in-car communication system, in 2008. Yesterday at the Consumers Electronic Show in Las Vegas, Ford’s CEO Allan Mulally announced an updated version with a long list of new features for the successful Ford feature.
On top of increased voice recognition capabilities, Internet radio, maps and personal settings is a Twitter feature.
The feature reads Twitter messages to the driver and Mulally said that eventually the voice recognition technology in the Sync will allow drivers to dictate their responses and even their own Twitter updates.
Concerns are being raised about the danger of increased distractions for drivers. Doug VanDagens, Ford’s Global Director of Connected Services responded by saying that driver’s already read their Twitter feeds but because Sync reads the messages, drivers will be able to keep their hands on the wheel.
Ford has been very successful with their ability to recognize the influence of social media in today’s culture. They’ve created successful social media campaigns like Fusion 41 and the Fiesta Movement.
The updated Sync will be included in 2010 Ford models.
