Cars are becoming rolling smartphones

Businessweek had an interesting article recently discussing how automakers are putting more and more technology into their vehicles.  I'm most familiar with Ford's Sync technology and I'm really impressed by it.  Not only does do the usual in-car functions such as voice navigation and 911 assistance, but it also essentially turns your phone and MP3 player into hands-free, voice activated devices.  So not only can you make and receive calls using the in-vehicle microphone and speakers, but the system will also read your texts messages to you and allow you to send certain generic reply texts using only voice commands.  You can also control your MP3 player with commands such as "Play Genre: Rock," "Play [Artist]," or "Play Track: [Song Title]."  


The best part about Sync, however, is that it's only a $400 option on new Ford vehicles. Ford reported that vehicles with Sync move twice as fast off their dealer lots and that non-Ford owners are three times as likely to consider the brand after viewing demonstrations of Sync. Also, used cars equipped with Sync, on average, sell for $200 more in auctions than those without it.  It's obvious that Ford is really dialed-in to what consumers are demanding in terms of connectivity features in their vehicles.

To read more about Sync click here.