Ford made a splash with its announcement of MyFord Touch, described as a “driver connect technology” and the next generation of its current Sync system.The system is scheduled to roll out first this year on the 2011 Lincoln MKK and be added to future new and redesigned Ford and Mercury models.
MyFord Touch will cause “people to fall in love with their vehicles again,” says Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president, global product development.
“It’s not just a technology, it’s an experience—one we hope will have people across the globe looking forward to spending time behind the wheel of their vehicle.”
It’s encouraging to see Ford’s commitment to this technology, which was developed with Microsoft on the software side. And remember, Ford was the only U.S. automaker that didn’t need a federal bail-out.
But right in the shadows, literally, of Ford’s booth at CES was a little-known player—Telemetria, with a very interesting product. And I always like David and Goliath stories.
Telemetria, a small company based in San Jose, CA, has already released its DashTop safety and “infotainment” system with a price point around $1,000.
Installed in the center console, the DashTop combines a 7″ color screen and touch interface for broadband Internet access for web browsing and e-mail, GPS navigation, playing music and video, engine monitoring and diagnostics and more. It can even turn the entire car into a Wi-Fi hotspot.
“We can continually add new apps for safety, efficiency, for social networking and for security,” says Allen Nejah, Telemetria’s founder
The system is built on Windows 7, which makes it easy to update and add features, according to Nejah.
The company is still working to refine the system’s voice-recognition capabilities. But after taking a test drive with the unit and meeting some of the company’s employees, I have little doubt they will get that part working as well as it should.
These kind of high-tech gadgets can surely make driving more interesting and more connected. I’m not certain a high-tech car can make it fun to commute through bumper-to-bumper traffic. But it might help find your way around the traffic jams.
#1 by Tim - January 10th, 2010 at 10:44
“…safety, efficiency, for social networking and for security,”
Which one does not belong?
There’s already enough “social networking” going on behind the wheel as it is. Every distraction that’s added means another thing the states have to legislate into banning to keep us all from getting killed by chatty idiots.
All this stuff is great if it’s in the back seat, but not in the front. It’s really hard to build a completely voice-controlled dashboard in a noisy car, which is what’s necessary to keep eyes on the road.
#2 by Dash - January 13th, 2010 at 13:57
The system is able to be configured in such a way that features are disabled while the car is in motion.
As for the Voice controls, its only a matter of time before its perfected, there are noise canceling mics and speech recognition technology that has come up by leaps and bounds in recent years.
#3 by Julie - April 4th, 2011 at 21:36
Anything to help keep on eye on a teen driving would be great. How about disabling his phone when he is driving? Now there is a feature worth investing in.