LAS VEGAS, Jan. 9, 2010 – Ford’s innovative new MyFord Touch driver connect technology has received a Popular Mechanics’ Editor’s Choice award for best new product at the 2010 International CES.
The 2010 show marks the third time the magazine’s technology editors have selected a Ford breakthrough for the award, granted annually to products the magazine feels “will make a difference this year.”
“Ford innovations are a direct response to consumer trends,” said Alan Mulally, Ford president and CEO, during his CES keynote presentation. “Technologies such as SYNC and MyFord Touch feed the demand for information in an integrated, elegant user interface.”
Mulally also addressed the philosophy behind the company’s MyFord strategy.
“For both the auto industry and the consumer electronics industry,” he added, “the best bet is to develop products that are versatile and loaded with features that make them easy to personalize.”
About MyFord Touch
MyFord Touch retains the traditional car interior layout that has existed for decades – instrument cluster in front of the driver, center stack dividing the dashboard – and adds even more voice control plus full-color LCD screens for much of the visual information presentation.
The information presented is customizable by the driver using a combination of voice controls, touch-screen technology and five-way cell phone-style buttons mounted on the steering wheel.
MyFord Touch displays information using two 4.2-inch full-color LCD screens flanking an analog speedometer and an 8-inch touch-screen LCD at the top of the center stack. A five-way switch on each side of the steering wheel crossbar – similar to the one found on most mobile phones and MP3 players – controls the information displayed on the corresponding instrument panel screens.
“Our vision for MyFord driver connect technology is that customers can connect to friends and family, to their favorite entertainment devices, and to all of the data stored in the ‘cloud’ using voice commands, touch controls and colorful LCD graphics,” explained Derrick Kuzak, Ford global product development chief.
“They can chat with their kids, listen to their RSS feeds, scan their iPods and make dinner reservations all while driving home from work, and all while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.”
A history of award-winning technology
Ford previously won the Popular Mechanics’ Editor’s Choice Award in 2007 for its SYNC technology, developed with Microsoft, which allows customers to seamlessly operate almost any mobile phone or digital media player in their vehicles using voice commands and steering wheel-mounted controls. The technology also received a “People’s Voice Award” that year.
In 2009, SYNC received the Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s “Best of CES” award. The SYNC Traffic, Directions & Information application, the industry’s first system to seamlessly integrate a variety of technologies to provide emergency, diagnostic and information services as well as traffic reports and directions on the road, also received the 2009 Popular Mechanics’ Editor’s Choice Award.
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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 200,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.