Ford SYNC

November 19, 2013 By Anish Leave a Comment

When, Ford introduced the talk-to-car function, it sounded a more of a gimmick rather than a feature that would make the car drivers life easy. However, few weeks before we had a chance to test the same in the Ford Ecosport.

SYNC (powered by Microsoft), is based on Mircosoft’s Windows Embedded Automotive operating system. SYNC in simpler terms, is a voice controlled communication and entertainment system that can connect to your devices like Smartphone, Tablet etc and lets you make and answer calls. You can even pair the device to stream the music.

SYNC in the Ecosport supports three simultaneous connections, two via Bluetooth pairing and one via USB. To connect the device, you just need to pair it over Bluetooth. You can even set your primary device as the favourite device which connects automatically once it is in the connecting range of SYNC.

To get things done via SYNC, there are set of commands that needs to be spoken. For instance, to make a call, one needs to speak – Use Phone, Call or in the phonebook. To use the names from the phonebook, you need to download the phonebook once the phone is synced.

With regards to the messages, SYNC reads out incoming SMSes if you want to. With the music playback, you can select the track to be played by Artist, Song name and more. There are steering mounted controls that lets you activate voice command and control the volume.

In case of emergency, SYNC dials an emergency number – 108 by using the paired phone. So in case an airbag is deployed or emergency fuel pump is shut off, SYNC will dial the emergency assist and provides the GPS coordinates so that the Ford staff can locate you and help you.

In a nutshell, the SYNC is not just a stereo with a Bluetooth pairing facility that will just make and receive calls. The whole technology has been implemented to make the drivers life easy and make him enjoy his drive without getting bothered. Ford plans to upgrade the SYNC software to further improve the features, including support for apps with AppLink. We are looking forward to it.

Learn more about SYNC here.

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