Ford announced yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that it plans to expand its voice-activated Microsoft-developed Sync information service to Europe and beyond beginning next year. Sync, which was just upgraded to include traffic and news-speaking ability, will be available in ten European languages before it is spread to the Asia-Pacific region and Australia in the coming years.
Ford also announced that it is partnering with retailer Best Buy to build awareness of the system. Technical support for Sync will be available through Best Buy’s Geek Squad.
The automaker also made it clear that Sync will be opened up to third-party development. Ford offered examples of using Pandora Internet radio through car speakers or accessing Facebook messages via the Sync system.
