Ford SYNC Recognized: National Multiple Sclerosis Society Da Vinci Award

Today the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society, Michigan Chapter announced that Ford SYNC® is one its 2008 da Vinci Award winners. The National MS Society honors innovations annually that give people with disabilities the ability to participate and contribute in all aspects of society. SYNC is being honored because it features a voice-recognition interface that allows hands-free operation of a variety of Bluetooth enabled devices in a safe manner.

“Ford is honored to be recognized by the National MS Society with the da Vinci Award for SYNC,” said Paul Mascarenas, Ford Motor Company vice president of Engineering. “We are committed to developing products and technologies with the flexibility to address the changing needs of consumers. With SYNC, we are able to continuously upgrade the functionality with new features like 911 Assist and VHR that will prove to be valuable for everyone.”

Introduced in the fall of 2007 and developed jointly by Ford and Microsoft, SYNC provides customers the convenience and flexibility to bring digital media players – Apple iPods, Microsoft Zunes and other MP3 players – and Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones into their vehicle and operate the devices via voice commands or with the buttons on the steering wheel or radio.

SYNC has been very popular. The new technology – which is exclusive to Ford and Lincoln Mercury vehicles – has reached 200,000 unit sales since launch and is poised to reach 1 million sales in 2009. The technology is available today on nearly every new Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicle.

SYNC adds two new features in the fall of 2008 on 2009 model year vehicles – 911 Assist and Vehicle Health Report (VHR) – and because SYNC is a software solution, owners of 2008 models equipped with SYNC already on the road will be able to have their systems updated with the new functions, as well.

View more Ford news.