Yesterday at Mobile World Congress, Ford revealed that its new B-MAX car would be launched in Europe with the company’s SYNC in-car connectivity system. Ford SYNC is already available in the USA, although the B-MAX was making its first public appearance. 3.5 million people are expected to be using SYNC in Europe by 2015.
SYNC uses the driver or passenger’s Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone for connectivity. In the event of an accident it’ll call the 112 emergency service number and will play a pre-recorded message in the appropriate local language, advising the operator of the vehicle’s location.
Paul Mascarenas, Ford’s chief technical officer and vice president of Research and Innovation, said “Ford’s Emergency Assistance feature will deliver significant additional peace-of-mind to B-MAX customers. It will also do so at no extra cost to the user for the lifetime of the vehicle and without requiring a subscription or registration, unlike competitor systems.”
Ford SYNC can also speak incoming SMS text messages from compatible mobile phones and will play music files via the car’s entertainment system. It’s controlled by the driver’s voice, using technology from Nuance.