CES 2010: MyFord Touch
Yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show Ford introduced its updated SYNC interface, showing off a completely customizable dashboard, along with an open API that will allow other internet applications to easily plug into its upcoming lineup.
The new interface has been designed to replicate a traditional car dashboard, but everything is interconnected. There are two 4.2″ LCD screens on either side of an analog speedometer, plus an 8″ touch-screen LCD in the center console. Controls on either side of the steering wheel make it easy to navigate different options.
They also showed off web applications streaming to the new Taurus SHO, including Pandora radio, Stitcher, and even twitter twitter integration will include a text to speech converter imagine listening to tweets while you drive. All this, sent to the car via your iPhone, Droid or other Google Phone, or Blackberry.
On the steering wheel crossbar, there’s a five-way switch that controls the information displayed on the corresponding panel screen. All of those displays are powered by Ford SYNC, adapted from the Microsoft Auto platform.
Some of the extra techie features include:
- Wi-Fi capability
- Two USB ports
- SD card slot
- RCA audio/visual input jacks
- Pandora
- iTunes tagging
- Twitter client OpenBeak
My opinion, this is a death trap.
Let me elaborate, in many states using your cellphone while driving is illegal, in many others texting while driving has also become illegal, so why put that many distractions on a car?
I see way to many possible distractions, from the radio, the integration with your mobile, the integration with Twitter (WTF), 2 ways to access turn by turn directions, on the dashboard and with the LCD, Itunes (???), etc…
IMHO it’s just a car and a car should not be a computer on wheels, call me a caveman but you don’t need to update your twitter account while driving just to say you’re driving or where you’re headed for the whole world to know, this exaggeration of a system will only contribute to more people becoming a statistic, nowadays there’s so much crap in cellphones some people don’t use computers anymore, and now Ford wants to add fuel to the fire?
Whatever, the other problem I was going to mention is the possibility of getting your pc stolen xD, will the car work? Hell the whole dashboard will be stolen, thanks but no thanks, I use my cars as transportation only, I don’t live in them…
