O Windows chega ao carro (Ford)

«In what might be the start of an exciting technological future for cars and trucks, Ford Motor Co. and software giant Microsoft Corp. are expected to jointly announce soon that new Windows Automotive software soon will be available in Ford vehicles. The new technology -- dubbed "Sync" -- will finally bring together two industries that have long been expected to cross paths, allowing consumers to use their vehicles as computers in key ways, such as hands-free cell phone calls or downloading music or receiving e-mail.

Ford and Microsoft are expected to reveal the project during media days at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which begins Jan. 7, and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which opens to the press a day earlier. Microsoft officials have acknowledged a joint announcement will be made during the shows, but Ford officials refused to comment publicly on the reports. Several Web sites have been reporting about the expected announcement in recent days. "We've learned from a source close to Microsoft's car-computer project that Microsoft and Ford are planning to announce the U.S. availability of the system in 2007," the technology blog site Engadget.com says. The Wall Street Journal published a report Friday about the companies' plans, as well, saying the technology will debut next year as an option on at least two Ford models that are to be freshened next year, the Focus and Five Hundred. Sync will be available on all Ford models starting in 2008 and will be phased in to Lincoln and Mercury models later.

According to a concept Hummer H2 vehicle shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2004, the Microsoft technology works through a computer located on the vehicle that runs Windows Auto software. The computer uses Bluetooth to connect wirelessly with a mobile phone in the car, which in turn connects to the Internet. Motorists communicate with the system through a microphone embedded in the roof of the car. (...) Microsoft already has been working with Fiat, which does not sell vehicles in North America, to use Windows Automotive software in cars -- an infotainment project that was unveiled at the 2006 Geneva auto show and labeled "Blue&Me." Motorists already can use that system in vehicles such as the Fiat Grande Punto and the Alfa Romeo Brera, 159 and Spider models. But the Microsoft project with Ford will be the first of its kind in North America.»

fonte: «Fords are expected to feature Windows», Detroit Free Press, 30/12/06

Sobre o projecto Blue&Me: «The Windows Mobile^® for Automotive-based infotainment package comes with Bluetooth^® and USB connectivity, which allows drivers to listen to music from their personal integrated media player. It also features a hands-free phone kit that can be controlled completely by voice control. The system is the result of the partnership that Microsoft and Fiat Auto initiated two years ago — an extremely short time in which to bring such a device to market»

MArk Ramsey dirige-se à industria radiofónica, tentando acordá-la:

«If you can use your car to download music, you can also use it to stream music. And if you can stream music then you can do so from any number of music providers, not just your radio station. That entertainment time comes, in part, from the primary in-car entertainer, and that, my friends, is YOU. What is YOUR group doing to be in front of this trend? What is YOUR group doing to be in every car in every way in 2007 and beyond? What content do you have that every Ford will want to stream? And where does this leave satellite radio and especially HD radio?»