akirby Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Which is exactly why Ford should hire a small software development team and do it all in-house. It makes sense to farm out the work if it's a one-off project for a few models. It's an entirely different matter if you decide as a company that you want to jam "SYNC" software into every model going forward. Should they do it in-house? Sure. But you severely underestimate the difficulty in putting together a brand new team capable of doing such a project. Not only do they not have the people but they don't have the infrastructure to support the development and testing effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillum Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 If a SYNC upgrade takes 40 minutes, does the car have to be idling the whole time? Or can it just be "on" without the engine running while upgrading the SYNC? Or can you be driving somewhere while upgrading the SYNC? I realize this post is over two months old but, for those like me who may have just found it, the car does not have to be idling for the update to work. Never tried it while driving but have done a few, on 3 different cars, with the engine not running but the key in the RUN position. Just don't leave the key in the ACC(essories) position. I have never had an update take over 15 minutes, which can seem like an eternity when you are sitting there waiting for it to finish. Any decent battery should be able to handle the 50 minutes someone mentioned, especially if you don't leave the headlights and blower motor on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Which is exactly why Ford should hire a small software development team and do it all in-house. It makes sense to farm out the work if it's a one-off project for a few models. It's an entirely different matter if you decide as a company that you want to jam "SYNC" software into every model going forward. So should Ford develop and manufacture all of their own tires, speakers, starters, transmissions, spark plugs, and alternators too? After all, all of their vehicles use those as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTwannabe Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 So should Ford develop and manufacture all of their own tires, speakers, starters, transmissions, spark plugs, and alternators too? After all, all of their vehicles use those as well. No, those are generic parts that work on any vehicle. You don't see "Ford SYNC by Microsoft" systems installed in Honda/Toyota/Volvo/VW products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 (edited) No, those are generic parts that work on any vehicle. You don't see "Ford SYNC by Microsoft" systems installed in Honda/Toyota/Volvo/VW products. But you do see the Microsoft-based system also being used by Hyundai/Kia. Allowing the system to be developed by an outside vendor allows that vendor to leverage multiple customers to invest in future development of the system. All the parts I mentioned have become somewhat generic and interchangable because they weren't all developed in-house. I think you will see a lot more commonality in these touch screen systems in the future as the "winners and losers" sort themselves out and those winners are then chosen to develop their systems for more manufacturers. Edited December 6, 2011 by NickF1011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 No, those are generic parts that work on any vehicle. You don't see "Ford SYNC by Microsoft" systems installed in Honda/Toyota/Volvo/VW products. No but you see a lot of electronics branding on the stereos (Sony, Harman Kardon, Mark Levinson, Bose, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 To add to my last response. Do I think Microsoft Sync will become one of the winners down the road? Who knows? But pushing this technology to market has certainly made everyone else in the industry rush to catch up. In the end, some companies will come up with better solutions than others, but the process had to start somewhere. I doubt the first automatic transmissions were perfect either, but once they hit the market, everybody else was in a hurry to get their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robot_trainer Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 At this point, I might suggest just waiting until Ford mails out the new update preloaded on thumb drives. It should be coming in the next couple of months. Really? This surprises me. I would think the cost of mailing plus the cost of the thumb drives would be astronomically high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Really? This surprises me. I would think the cost of mailing plus the cost of the thumb drives would be astronomically high. Eh, thumb drives are cheap these days. Seems like a small price to pay for a good will gesture toward those customers who may be a bit disenfranchised by MFT at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Seems like a small price to pay for a good will gesture toward those customers who may be a bit disenfranchised by MFT at the moment. This. Plus it relieves load on the syncmyride.com servers and network which probably offsets the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 This. Plus it relieves load on the syncmyride.com servers and network which probably offsets the cost. Doubt those costs would be too significant. Bandwidth is cheap these days. The real savings Ford will realize is by not having to pay technicians for an hour or two of work for every single one of them that would otherwise need to come to the dealership for the reflash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Doubt those costs would be too significant. Bandwidth is cheap these days. The real savings Ford will realize is by not having to pay technicians for an hour or two of work for every single one of them that would otherwise need to come to the dealership for the reflash. That also. But it's not so much the bandwidth but having the servers crash from the load if this was turned loose on the public to download. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 That also. But it's not so much the bandwidth but having the servers crash from the load if this was turned loose on the public to download. Eh, doubt that would happen if they are configured properly. After all, you're not talking about millions of people here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Eh, doubt that would happen if they are configured properly. After all, you're not talking about millions of people here. I seem to recall having server problems when the Edge was first launched. And we're not talking about Google or Amazon here - we're talking about Ford. Either way it's a moot point - they're sending out the usb drives anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I seem to recall having server problems when the Edge was first launched. And we're not talking about Google or Amazon here - we're talking about Ford. Either way it's a moot point - they're sending out the usb drives anyway. It was also a brand new site at the time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 It was also a brand new site at the time... Nope. Symcmyride.com has been around since 2008 at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Nope. Symcmyride.com has been around since 2008 at least. Fine. :P I still say non-issue on the server side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Fine. :P I still say non-issue on the server side. Ok. You win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robot_trainer Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 I seem to recall having server problems when the Edge was first launched. And we're not talking about Google or Amazon here - we're talking about Ford. Either way it's a moot point - they're sending out the usb drives anyway. So can expect an upgrade any time soon or is this just for MFT? (I just have sync in a 2012 Mustang GT) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 So can expect an upgrade any time soon or is this just for MFT? (I just have sync in a 2012 Mustang GT) Only MFT. I don't think they changed the regular Sync software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robot_trainer Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Only MFT. I don't think they changed the regular Sync software. That's OK, mine works pretty good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stretchtree Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 has anyone received the new update, what is the feedback of the new touch system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 has anyone received the new update, what is the feedback of the new touch system Seems to be a mixed bag so far, leaning toward positive, but still not a cure-all. I haven't received mine yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Seems to be a mixed bag so far, leaning toward positive, but still not a cure-all. I haven't received mine yet. It's only a mixed bag on the focusfanatics forum. Everywhere else it seems to be performing well with only a few minor problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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