The Wall Street Journal reports that Ford and Microsoft  have decided to sync. At the Detroit Auto Show and the Consumer Electronics Show in January, the two firms will jointly announce Sync, an in-car navigation and infotainment system built on Microsoft's platform.
Sync is designed to let drivers navigate better, download and listen to music, talk by cell phone, and even get e-mail without using their hands, according to reports. Powered by Bluetooth -- the same technology that powers wireless cell phone headsets -- Sync will debut in two Ford models, the Focus and Five Hundred series, in 2007, then expand to all Ford models in the 2008 model year.
This is not the first time that high-tech gadgets from Microsoft and elsewhere have found their way into a car's cockpit, of course. Ford joined BMW, Volvo, and others when it put input jacks for iPods into certain 2007 models, including the Edge SUV. GPS systems are common in today's age of connected driving; cell phone hook-ups are ubiquitous.
Laws Limit Tech
Yet not everyone approves the convergence of cars and digital wizardry. Laws that limit drivers' use of cell phones have sprung up in many states but are yet to be widely enforced. No doubt when e-mail and iTunes downloads are as easy to use on I-95 as a basic cell phone, such laws will expand -- or rather, the debate around them will expand, perhaps quickly.
The Sync is one more step for Microsoft's little-known but widely used Windows Automotive system, just one part of Redmond's attempt to expand its software's reach into everything from toasters to PCs to drop-tops.
Built on Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, which powers mobile handhelds and smartphones, Windows Automotive attempts to lighten up traffic woes with a high-throughput injection of infotainment and on-board navigation.
Smart Cars Mean Big Business
According to Microsoft, it can direct drivers to the cheapest gas station in their neighborhood (using 3-D maps) and alert them to real-time traffic problems en route. E-mail, music, and cell phone features are built-in, too.
The first version of Windows Automotive was designed by Microsoft teams in Redmond and Tokyo in 1998. Now in version 5.0, it powers gadgets in cars from BMW, Citroen, DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, Volvo, and of course Ford, which hopes the Sync will help it revive weak sales and stave off another bad year like 2006, in which the company lost its CEO (also the great-grandson of Henry Ford, who replaced himself when the firm's performance began to flag under a turnaround plan).
Ford also offered to buy out the bulk of its work force to reduce labor costs that have kept the company in neutral.
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