Microsoft (MSFT) and Ford Motor (F) are adding emergency-call capability with no monthly fee to Sync – their joint, in-car wireless system that lets drivers control cellphones and music players with voice commands – in a challenge to General Motors' OnStar technology.
The companies made the announcement during Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' speech Sunday night that opened the giant Consumer Electronics Show. The move gives Ford and Microsoft a boost in a hot arena for automotive competition: the melding of personal electronics into the car.
“Ford really has driven people into the dealerships because they want to see Sync,” Gates said in an interview earlier Sunday. “The response to the product has been phenomenal.”
Ford says it has sold 33,000 Sync units since its November launch, exceeding expectations with up to half of customers ordering the option on some models. Sync's current features center on convenience. An automated voice reads text messages to drivers from their PDAs, for example. It costs $395 on most models with no monthly subscription fee.
In 2009 Ford, Mercury and Lincolns going on sale later this year, Sync will call 911 from the motorist's own Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone if the car's air bag deploys in a crash. An automated voice will inform a local dispatcher so emergency crews can be sent immediately.
But there are limits. If the mobile phone is outside of range or in roam mode, the automatic call might not work. Also, many mobile phones lack a Global Positioning System (GPS) chip. Without GPS, the system locates an injured motorist by measuring the phone's relative signal strength from different cell towers.
OnStar officials aren't worried. OnStar's operators have handled more than 1 million emergencies over the past 11 years, OnStar Vice President Nick Pudar says. Standard on GM vehicles, it costs $199 a year after a one-year trial.
The no-subscription model could give Sync a boost, says Thilo Koslowski, lead automotive analyst for consultant Gartner. “Customers don't have to pay extra for this,” he says.
Microsoft will likely expand the service to other carmakers, though Gates declined to discuss specifics. “On a worldwide basis, we've got car people we're talking to,” he said.
