Ford dumps Microsoft for Blackberry for Sync 3

Chris Woodyard | Detroit Free Press and USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Ford's new and improved Sync 3 Faster voice recognition and controls replace balky MyFord Touch. Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press

After being repeatedly punished in consumer surveys, Ford Motor unveiled the third generation of its Sync in-car connectivity system Thursday with a promise that it will be simpler and have a more natural voice-command interface.

It is a whole new system that drops past partner Microsoft for Canada's QNX software from Blackberry. And it drops the MyFordTouch and MyLincolnTouch names for Sync 3.

The Ford-Microsoft relationship dates back to meetings between Bill Ford and Bill Gates and led to the introduction of Sync in 2007. But the Microsoft-based system has suffered from bugs over the years which affected quality scores for Ford and Lincoln vehicles.

The QNX system allows Ford to create an infotainment system with a simpler layout, larger fonts, and a touchscreen that moves with a swipe up, down or across, with pinch-to-zoom like modern tablets.

The result is a system that is easier and more intuitive to use and maintains buttons and knobs for the traditionalists.

Sync 3 will be rolled out on more than half the Ford and Lincoln vehicles in the U.S. by the end of 2016 and then continue to expand globally, said Don Butler, Ford executive director of connected vehicle and services. He would not say on which vehicle it will debut next year.

The system will have a different look for the luxury Lincoln brand but the same functionality.

"It's doing everything better," says Sherif Marakby, global director of electrical and electronic systems engineering for Ford.

Said Michele Krebs, senior analysts for AutoTrader.com, MyFordTouch (and Sync before it) "has been the modern-day equivalent of Edsel for the automaker. So good riddance MyFordTouch. What's more important than the name, however, is the ease-of-use and quality function of Ford's infotainment system, whatever they want to call it.

Krebs cited data from AutoTrader's 2014 In-Vehicle Technology Shopper Influence Study that showd 48% of consumers will would away from a car they like if they think the technology is too difficult to use, 48% of vehicle owners believe it should take less than 15 minutes to learn how to use vehicle technology features and that 56% of vehicle owners would switch to a different car brand if the one they were considering didn't offer technology features they want

Sync was introduced in 2007 to much critical acclaim, making Ford's small cars hip and the company was seen as tech-savvy for its ability to connect a driver's smartphone with the vehicle.

The second generation three years later was dubbed MyFordTouch because the central feature was a large touchscreen for commands, in addition to using voice recognition. But MyFordTouch frustrated some owners and it has taken a drubbing in consumer quality surveys. The Ford brand ranked in the bottom third among automakers in J.D. Power and Associates' closely watched Initial Quality Study in 2013, largely due to Sync, but moved to above average in this year's survey. Owners complained that displays were a confusing mishmash of information and that voice commands weren't understood.

Ford introduced a series of software upgrades and began restoring buttons and knobs to its infotainment systems to address complaints. Today about 90% of Ford's vehicles have at least the base Sync system and as many as 55% have the upgraded MyFordTouch, Butler said. There are about 10 million vehicles with Sync on the road.

Developing the latest version, Ford benchmarked the best consumer devices and listened to about 22,000 pieces of consumer feedback on its current system. "It was engineered as if the customer was in the room," said Gary Jablonski, Sync product development manager.

As a result, "the buttons are enormous," Jablonski said.

Another improvement is that when Ford has software updates, it will no longer have to give customers a USB to download the software.

Sync 3 has a built-in wifi receiver to connect the car to the home, allowing "over the air updates." The downloads proceed while the car is in the driveway and a message is sent when they are complete. It is free and seamless, Jablonski said.

The latest version makes it easier to use AppLink, a program that syncs phone apps to the car so they appear on the touchscreen for easy use, said Liz Halash, product development engineer.

AppLink is three years old but many consumers don't know it allows them to use phone apps such as Pandora. With Sync 3 the roughly 70 approved phone apps are more prominent and easy to use from the dashboard touchscreen.

Siri is also displayed on the screen or can be accessed by pressing the voice button on the steering wheel.

As before, Sync will still depend on connecting through the smartphone or other digital device that an owner brings into the car. Now, though, owners will see screens as simple as three zone choices — navigation, audio and phone. The number of choices on the screen has been dramatically reduced.

Likewise, drivers will now stand a deent chance of being understood by Sync's voice recognition system. Instead of having to say "one one four five Main Street," owners can say "eleven forty-five Main Street" the way they normally would. Having to state complete formal names is also out. No longer will a driver need to ask to be directed to P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro." Simply asking for the closest "P.F. Chang's" will suffice.

Ford, however, is not ditching the extra knobs it started adding back a year ago to deal with complaints about Sync and MyFord Touch.

There will be "a lot of flexibility to the full experience (of) in-vehicle usage," says Parrish Hanna, global director for human-machine interface. And hopefully, for Ford, better ratings of its systems.