Ford to connect your smartphone navigation apps to Sync 3

Ford’s connected car system is getting an upgrade, even though it hasn’t hit the market yet. The car company announced at the North American International Auto Show that the third version of AppLink will come to Sync 3 and it will let users bring their smartphone navigation apps to the car’s screen. Ford isn’t relying on the likes of CarPlay and Android Auto. Instead, they will use their own system to have phones interface with their cars. AppLink 3.0 won’t ship until after Sync 3 rolls out. Hopefully, Ford works out compatibility with the likes of Google, Apple, and Waze by then.

Ford’s first partner for the project is Chinese company Alibaba. They will develop the AutoNavi software to be compatible with the SmartDeviceLink open source standard that Ford is pushing for their suppliers and other automakers.

Source: Ford | Via: Engadget

Ford replaces BlackBerry with Apple with 9,300 iPhones for staff

The winds of change are slowly and surely blowing through the corporate space as companies upgrading their systems are making choices on what mobile solutions to run. Ford has seemingly moved away from BlackBerry and has gone with Apple by deploying 9,300 iPhones for its employees for the next two years.

This is a huge commitment and a vote of confidence for iPhone following the announcement that Apple and IBM would be teaming up for an unprecedented mobile enterprise push.

Ford finds the iPhone secure and simple to use. "It meets the overall needs of the employees because it is able to serve both our business needs and a secure way and the needs we have in our personal lives with a single device," said Sara Tatchio, Ford's Manager for Integrated Global Communication. Enterprise is an area that BlackBerry owned but since its decline in popularity, Apple has become the logical choice for enterprise and corporations looking to provide acceptable and secure BYOD policies. 98% of the Fortune 500 are said to already be running on iOS and Apple expects to grow this even further.

Source: AppleInsider

Ford executive says connected cars crucial to solving gridlock

With the number of motorized vehicles in the world forecast to increase from 1 billion now to 2 billion to 4 billion by 2050, there is increased impetus to make vehicles more connected, according to Stephen Odell of Ford Motor. "If we do nothing we could end up with global gridlock," he said this week at a conference in Spain. "Cars are the smartphones of the future," Odell added. "There are many untapped opportunities for mobile to play a role in advanced automated driving." Ford was in the news recently for dropping Microsoft as the technology running its navigation and entertainment systems and choosing QNX which is owned by BlackBerry.

Source: CEA SmartBrief

Ford develops vibrating shift knob

It won’t be in the next Ford Mustang you’ll be taking out of the lot but it gives you an idea of what’s possible in terms of car technology.

Ford engineer Zach Nelson has created a vibrating shifter knob to make it easier to adjust to manual transmission and perhaps help you get the most performance or fuel economy out of the car. He created it out of an Xbox 360 controller, Arduino controller, and LED display which he placed inside a 3D-printed knob.