Ford SYNC Tech Goes Global in 2012

Along with its European debut on the Ford Focus in 2012, the American automaker will also mark the global launch of its SYNC technology, a piece of news that will be delivered by Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally at the 2011 CeBIT technology show in Hannover, Germany, tomorrow.

"We are pleased to announce that SYNC will soon be available to customers around the world," Mulally said. "It is a smarter, safer and simpler way to connect drivers with in-car technologies and their digital lives.”

SYNC can recognize 10,000 commands in any one of 19 languages, giving drivers across Europe and around the world the power to control the majority of the vehicle's functions using their voice.

SYNC will be able to understand U.S., U.K. and Australian English; European and Canadian French; European and U.S. Spanish; and European and Brazilian Portuguese. Elsewhere in Europe, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian and Turkish are all understood. Beyond Europe, languages such as Arabic, Korean and Japanese are also compatible.

"SYNC’s unique connection between the driver’s devices and the vehicle means that the user’s voice can control both the car and the device," said Jason Johnson, SYNC Product Development engineer. "Plus, SYNC is being developed specifically for European customers with the ability to understand multiple languages and accents; it can even decipher unique regional text message acronyms and support different units of distance and date formats."

The benefits of integrating a mobile phone or entertainment device into a car's control system have long been recognized by the automotive industry, but SYNC allows the driver to take control without removing hands from the steering wheel or eyes from the road.