Ford-Microsoft Sync goes to New York, in my Focus.

So a few weeks ago I drove our 2008 Ford Focus SE to New York to visit my folks, the same ones we visited in Florida this past Easter. They spend summers on a small lake between the Finger Lakes and the Adirondack Mountains. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s lovely there, but I really want to tell you about how cool the Ford-Microsoft Sync system is when you get the chance to put it through its paces. I’ll tell you about the ducks and geese on the lake, and the first tinges of autumn color on the hillsides some other time. Hopefully the picture will tide you over.

Anyway, we left The Ricart Automotive campus at about nine in the morning after stopping by to pick a couple of things. By the time we made the first turn onto Hamilton Road, the Sync had already indexed the additional songs I had put on the Zune MP3 player the night before, and everything was set to put that talking car to work!

I pushed the media button on the steering wheel… “Sync, please say a command” comes the pleasant female voice, not at all mechanical or clunky.
“U.S.B.”, I tell her because that’s the port under the radio and Sync console where I plug in my 80G Zune. (With over 10,000 songs ranging from stuff by AC/DC to Zwan and all points in between!)
“U.S.B. Please say a command.” she says, again politely, bringing me to the realization that my new Focus is a girl.
“Play playlist Road Tunes!”
“Playing playlist Road Tunes…” The quietness of the Focus’ cabin is then immediately shattered by the down-beat of Headin’ Out On The Highway by Judas Priest and we were on our way!

Of course Sync does not limit you to playing just playlists, its indexing system and the speech recognition programming lets you choose what you want played by album title, artist, genre, or playlist. Sync does just about everything for your musical entertainment in your car except teach you to play all the songs yourself! (Please do not attempt to play guitar, drums, keyboards, bag pipes, or any other musical instruments while driving. (Oh, and if you want a free lesson or two on guitar, Fred’s giving lessons at fredricart.com.)

When we were about an hour outside of Syracuse, I called my folk’s house to let them know what progress we were making, and all I head to do was push the phone button on the steering wheel, the music muted, and there she was again… that voice.
“Phone, please say a command”
“Call Mom at lake” I say and the phone starts to ring at their house.

Since the trip to New York was the first chance I have had to interact with my Focus and Sync, it wasn’t until we got back home to Columbus that I realized what a great safety, convenience, and entertainment device it actually is. Oh, and again this year, Sync is only available on Ford Company vehicles, so if you stop by Ricart Ford in the Megamall sometime, just ask to check out Sync. After you do, I’m sure you’ll want one too.