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Ford Sync 3 entertainment system debuts, ditches Microsoft

Overnight Ford unveiled its latest generation entertainment and navigation system, which will wear the name Sync 3 globally.


Both on the surface and under-the-skin, the Ford's new Sync 3 is a complete overhaul of the systems that have gone before it. Superficially, Sync 3 features a much altered colour palette, with larger and more clearly defined buttons.

The current generation system, which is branded as Sync 2 in Australia, and MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch overseas, features a dark colour scheme. Sync 2, as used in the FG X Falcon, has four on-screen quadrants (audio, climate control, navigation and phone).

For Sync 3, there's a simpler menu bar motif, that runs along the bottom of the screen, and which adds quick access buttons for supported smartphone apps and settings. There's also a home screen that links straight to the navigation, audio and phone functions.

Ford claims that the new system is faster and more smartphone-like, with features like swiping, pinch-to-zoom and a unified one-box search function. The company has refined the voice control system with more natural speech recognition, so drivers can say "twelve sixty-two Kent St" instead of "one two six two Kent St".

Beneath it all, Sync 3 severs Ford's long-standing relationship with Microsoft. Whereas previous Sync and MyFord Touch systems used the Windows Embedded Automotive computing platform developed by the Seattle computing giant, the latest generation Sync 3 system runs on BlackBerry's QNX operating system.

The Sync 3 system can be configured to receive over-the-air software updates via a home Wi-Fi network.

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