Feasibility of MyFord Touch and Sync upgrades

[bfr]

Was reading this article about the latest MyFord Touch system and 2nd Generation Sync system that is going into the 2011 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKZ vehicles.

Made me curious about the exact feature set the system on the Nav equipped Raptors will have.

RE: Bluetooth integration - my understanding is that BT phone, voice dialing and audio streaming are all in place. How about BT app control for music apps like Rhapsody, Slacker, Pandora, etc ?? How about on the iPhone? Will these be potential upgrades via firmware/software or not?

RE: Internet browsing and wifi - data appears to be limited to the traffic, weather, movies, etc. fixed screens and TDI. Will an upgrade allow for a browser? Customized pages of user choosing? And how about the wifi hotspot feature...either by the USB modem as described in the above article or alternately, via a Bluetooth linked smartphone as described elsewhere in Ford news releases?

Thanks for any insights on this.

And I guess like the query about rain sensing wipers...what is the feasibility (if most of these options are not going to be possible with the Raptor as delivered) of swapping a few OEM parts (like the entire SYNC module or adding a wireless CF card or something) to bring a Raptor up to the capability of a Ford Edge or Lincoln MKZ?

 

[bfr]

No replies so I'll bump my own and add a little...now that I have my truck.

RE: Bluetooth control of iPhone apps.... Seems to work fine for stop, play, pause, etc. No display of song etc. but works nicely.

Anyone gone the PC integration road...using the Nav display for browser, etc?

 

[Droid]

I'd imagine it's extremely unlikely that you're going to be able to add any features to Sync that aren't specifically provided by Microsoft/Ford. As far as going to MyFordTouch...no way. It's all proprietary software, and there isn't much (if any) hacking community that I've found for Sync.

The best/only hope would be for them to issue an upgrade. They do issue software upgrades (you can get them at syncmyride.com, not sure if any are available for the Raptor yet). These tend to be bugfixes or very minor feature enhancements from what I understand.

Could do an aux input and use the Nav display for a car-mounted PC display. I don't think any of the aftermarket goodies offer anything better than a composite (i.e. crappy) input to it though. Display resolution on the Nav is 800x480 from what I've read, which would be adequate. Touch screen would not be operable in such a scenario though (can't think of a way to get touch input back to connected PC). Thus don't see any advantage in doing it.

 

[speed45]

Your not going be able to add most any of the MyFordTouch features in that you would want. The hardware is completely different and very very very expensive. Ive seen some of my warranty claims..........Ford trucks get what I like to call "truck touch" it focuses more on truck features like for ie: Towing, offroad data and features, hill decent, ect. But the only real difference between the new ford truck setup and the myfordtouch in the edge and explorer is the steering wheel controls and the user interface for audio devices as well as some voice commands. Other then that the systems are very comparable, id even go as far to say that the edge and explorer operates very choppy compared to the truck sync system. I personally can do without all the fancy junk in the edge and explorer as cool as it is. But im also trying to figure out whats wrong with this crap 24/7 so I think its left a bad taste in my mouth lol.

As far as software updates, the syncmyride.com data is to aid in some software problems and glitches as well as adding new device compatability. They are more like patches then anything else. The dealer installed updates are the equivalent to formatting your hard drive and uploading a whole new operating system. But you cant just add a edge package on a raptor, the hardware is completely different and the program would never load.

 

[bfr]

Thanks a lot guys for the info.

Have you had success with loading and running the Sync Status Checker v1.3 from the syncmyride.com site?

It never completes for me and always shows an error when I try to report the installation.

 

[JP7]

Thanks a lot guys for the info.

Have you had success with loading and running the Sync Status Checker v1.3 from the syncmyride.com site?

It never completes for me and always shows an error when I try to report the installation.

Me too - I did get it to work once, but haven't been able to log in to the mysync page since then. It sort of did an update, but I'm not sure anything worked as I don't notice any differences.
Typical Microsoft...

 

[bfr]

So pretty much every time I'd get in the truck, my iPhone 4 would kick into iPod mode and start playing whatever it felt like. Even though I had hard closed the iPod app and had never ever been listening to it.

Pretty much all radio here sucks. I'm OK with Sirius but it leaves a lot to be desired. So Slacker.com cached radio stations are pretty much my godsend. So yesterday I deleted all the iPod music from my iPhone...that solved that problem. Now when I hop in, Slacker fires up and starts playing via BT streaming. As soon as I leave with the phone, the app goes to pause and all is good.

Thought I'd love the Ford Sync...definitely do not.

Nearest weather available is 85 miles away and 1400 feet higher in elevation. I can input the zip code on syncmyride and all looks like it will be good...but can't load the gd updates to the truck. aaagh!

Sent syncmyride an appropriately sarcastic rant yesterday...we'll see what they have to say?

Rant off...

 

[A10fxr]

BFR,

I could be mistaken here however, my phone was doing that samething with out my knowledge, and would automatically disconnect the BT. I found that if i went to media and changed from BT to "source in", or something to that affect, both problems were solved.

So pretty much every time I'd get in the truck, my iPhone 4 would kick into iPod mode and start playing whatever it felt like. Even though I had hard closed the iPod app and had never ever been listening to it.

Pretty much all radio here sucks. I'm OK with Sirius but it leaves a lot to be desired. So Slacker.com cached radio stations are pretty much my godsend. So yesterday I deleted all the iPod music from my iPhone...that solved that problem. Now when I hop in, Slacker fires up and starts playing via BT streaming. As soon as I leave with the phone, the app goes to pause and all is good.

Thought I'd love the Ford Sync...definitely do not.

Nearest weather available is 85 miles away and 1400 feet higher in elevation. I can input the zip code on syncmyride and all looks like it will be good...but can't load the gd updates to the truck. aaagh!

Sent syncmyride an appropriately sarcastic rant yesterday...we'll see what they have to say?

Rant off...

 

[speed45]

those are all sync program related problems, id call your dealer to see if an upgrade is available or what updates may help that from syncmyride.com

 

[isabelB]

MyFord Touch, the cutting-edge touchscreen screen in new Ford automobiles, will soon receive a facelift, notes the Detroit Free Press. Sources claim that complaints that the old system was too slow and cluttered prompted the upgrade. Current owners of a MyFord Touch-equipped Ford vehicle will be able to upgrade totally free. MyFord Touch upgrades to appear in 2013 models. Ford introduced touch-screen systems in the 2010 Ford Edge and 2010 Lincoln MKX. Since then, improved versions of MyFord Touch have appeared in the Explorer and Focus. In addition, the new MyFord Touch will respond to a wider array of voice commands. It will also work with Sirius satellite radio’s Game Finder feature so that drivers can speak the name of the broadcast sporting event to which they’d like to listen.