Ford Releases 9 New Sync Apps at CES 2013
Looking for apps to install in your new Ford? If you are a Canadian Ford owner we don't think you are…but if so, then there's good news from the 2013 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Ford has released nine new apps intended to work with the Sync system installed in many of its automobiles.
The apps integrate Sync via the Applink feature, which doesn't exactly install the apps to the car or truck's software but rather serves as a direct link to them on a smartphone via Bluetooth or a cable tether. The apps can then be controlled via the voice command system that is a native part of Sync.
The apps themselves consist of music services like Rhapsody, Aha Radio, and the Amazon Cloud Player, news services from USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, and unusual social media apps like the BeCouply service, which is targeted at providing 'epic social lives for couples.' The question for Canadian Ford customers, however, is just how many of these apps will function north of the U.S. border? Currently, apps such as Pandora radio are installed, but unavailable in a number of cars sold in Canada due to broadcast rights concerns for various types of media. Similar issues will most likely affect the Rhapsody and Amazon apps, although no specific information was provided at the CES 2013 show for the Canadian market.