Not a bad price if it can do diagnostics and what not, however unless there is some emergency warning, I think most of the functionality should be shut off unless the car is parked. All we need is more distracted drivers checking email, texting, and scrolling thru MP3 menus while driving.

Obviously these things are going to happen anyway, but I think auto manufacturers are somewhat buffered from litigation resulting from wrecks caused by these distractions.

To Me- The SYNC system is going to be hands free. That includes picking songs on your MP3, Texting, E-mail, the whole works. I do agree that it is still a distraction, but the best thing about it is the hands free. If you are in the middle of a phone conversation while you get in the car, it will automaticly switch to the cars audio system as soon as the vehicle is running.

i think you should not opt for this system as it will probably crash anyway.

I think we already know about SYNC. Its great, whatever. Now stop showing me the pic of the NEW (warmed over) 2008 Focus and tell Ford to bring its Euro focus that’s sold everywhere BUT here.

ok im a little confused (as usual)how does hands free texting work?

ME – As they should be. Otherwise, knife manufacturers and such could be sued for every slice of the skin. Personal responsibility, it’s a lost virtue. Distractions only occur when the driver allows them.

I would love this kind of system. I’ve been looking around thinking about building my own. GPS, Internet, Email, music, movies for the kids, etc… all in one unit instead of multiple devices. It’s not so much about sending information from the vehicle as it is recieving. Think of a roving sales guy and how much this system would help them. Long trips? Cool as hell.

Commondore, I agree!

Piablo: you’re talking sense: let the person be responsible, if he’s using a tool in the wrong way or behaving recklessly

CTS Driver, hands free cell phone is using voice activation for dialing. That being ued on many cars today. Hands free MP3 using the same voice activation technology currently employed by MB and BMW in their cars.

The texting feature is just reading of text messages. In a car its a cool feature. There is a video on the net somewhere that shows this tech in action at a car show. The computer reads text messages over the speakers but doesnt allow the driver to respond. Its similar text-to-speech technology used for decades for the blind.

If applied to emails it may be a more useful feature, though equally as distracting.

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MORE EXCLUSIVE

thanks driven,my cars hands free voice activation is through onstar and verizon, but i was stumped on hands free texting but being able to read them makes sense, i was wondering if there was a voice to text thing going on or something.
thanks again.

^well i have to push a button first and say dial^

“Ford announced today that it will debut Sync, an on board computer connectivity system developed with Microsoft”

I will NEVER buy a car with MS (a.k.a. MajorSuck) software in a car. I will switch to motorcycles (which I already own and ride in all weather except snow and ice) and then bicyles if I have to.

I’m not surprised that Ford would go with Microsoft. Both have very poor quality. This is coming from someone that used be to stupid enough to buy Fords (after my dad and his dad and …) and I support Microsoft products for a living.

Note that I have neither at home. I only buy quality products (Toyota and Apple).

Ah the sweet sound of someone talking ****

oh nice now i when i crash from reading texts at least both hands will be on the wheel