Amid the companies unveiling new laptops, smartphones and electronic book readers is an auto company that has tapped several partners to help make the automobile a moving technology machine. Ford unveiled a slew of innovative technologies on Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The Dearborn, Mich.-based company made a splash with its MyFord technology, features that will do for the car what touch did for the mobile phone, according to Ford CEO Alan Mulally. The consumer interface was developed to mimic how consumers use the automobile, and the auto giant added touch-sensitive buttons, touchscreens, voice recognition, and thumbwheel controls.
Adding in-auto entertainment has become a trend in the automotive market, and technology companies stand to benefit from competition between the auto giants.
MyFord Touch shows information using two 4.2-inch LCD screens on an analog speedometer and an eight-inch LCD touchscreen at the top of the center stack. It also includes a five-way switch on each side of the steering wheel similar to mobile phones and MP3 players, according to Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s vice president of global product development.
Users of MyFord Touch will get built-in turn-by-turn directions, traffic updates, and personalized traffic reports, similar to those found in a stand-alone GPS device.
Car passengers looking for Internet connectivity can tap into Ford’s Wi-Fi hot spots to access a built-in browser. The browser is only available when the vehicle is in park. The system includes support for on-screen and USB-connected keyboards, an RSS feed aggregator, and a text-to-voice reader.
Phone connectivity provides the driver with error correction and reporting, phone-book contact downloads and birthday reminders.
Ford designed its MyFord Touch service to keep vehicles safe, too. Drivers have access to direct speech commands, including voice activation of climate control. Users will also be able to speak their preference for most radio functions, including…