Eyes on the Road: Digital Dream, Driving Reality
I am not a tech-savvy guy. Still, when I get into my car for the morning commute, I bristle with digital devices. I have an iPod full of music, a BlackBerry that doubles as a phone, and a CD loaded with MP3s of tunes passed along by offspring or friends who want to upgrade my musical tastes. On the way to work, I am tempted to fumble with the iPod's touchy selector wheel to find the podcast of that NPR quiz show I like. Or I might punch a number into my phone handset to make a call. Either way, I am endangering myself and other drivers. I know email messages are stacking up in the BlackBerry. I know I mustn't read them at 65 miles per hour, despite my anxiety about missing a note that will betray my abuse of the "present while absent" function that comes with a BlackBerry subscription.
But the dream of turning cars into digital communication hubs hasn't died. Now, car makers and technology suppliers are rallying to take another shot and to develop a safe way for drivers to manage their digital clutter and connectivity angst while on the road.
Ford Motor Co., for example, hopes to generate buzz with a system called Sync, developed in collaboration with Microsoft Corp. and being rolled out on about a dozen Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.
Ford's effort grew out of the frustration of a small group of Ford engineers with the auto industry's tendency to lag behind personal-electronics trends, says Gary Jablonski, manager of infotainment system engineering for Ford in Dearborn, Mich. "Customers want the same stuff in their cars that they see in Best Buy," he says. "We are generally a year behind."
Their idea: Develop a system, using a variant of Microsoft's Windows CE software, that can link to various digital devices using either Bluetooth wireless technology or a USB port. Then, no matter what kind of device is involved, the system can operate it using a voice-recognition system or the buttons, knobs or touch screens provided for the car's basic audio system.
If I had a Sync-equipped car, my morning drive might go like this: I would plug the iPod into a USB port in the storage bin under the center armrest and pair my BlackBerry with the car's audio system using Bluetooth.
To get the iPod to play, I could tell the system, "Play genre jazz," and the iPod would start playing tunes in that category.
To make a call, I could say, "Phone," and then say the name of a person listed in the phone's contact list. I could also sound out numbers. Using the phone hands-free would keep me legal in states that have rules against juggling the handset while in motion. However, there's considerable evidence that just carrying on a phone conversation is a distraction that undermines driving performance, whether you have a hand on the phone or not.
Provided I had the right kind of phone, I might command the system to read aloud text messages -- a better choice than reading them from the phone screen at highway speeds. The Sync system will even translate text abbreviations, such as "LOL," or "CUL8R," Mr. Jablonski says.
Perhaps Ford and Microsoft could develop a home edition of to decode the speech of teenagers for their parents' benefit.
The most impressive trick Mr. Jablonski performed was finding a British radio site on his Web-enabled phone and then piping the broadcast wirelessly from the phone to the Edge's sound system. Not every phone could do that, he cautions.
So how will all this go over in the real world, where Internet radio broadcasts time out, phone calls drop, Bluetooth earpieces produce annoying echoes, and PC software crashes?
The market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates this month released an outline of its latest survey of consumer interest in new automotive technology, which offers some encouragement and some caution for products such as Sync.
The good news is that half of the consumers polled for Power's 2007 emerging-technologies study said they would be interested in paying as much as $100 to get a USB interface in their next car. Asked if they'd pay $150 to get an iPod interface, about 43% said yes.
At a theoretical price of $200, "wireless connectivity" came in at No. 8 among 19 different technologies listed, according to Power. Ford plans to charge almost double that, about $395, for Sync as a standalone option. (It will be standard on the Lincoln lineup.)
However, Power's survey indicates consumers are generally more inter ested in certain safety technology; smart air bags, backup assistance systems and run-flat tires ranked 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
When it comes to entertainment systems, consumers want to be able to use their digital music players in the car. But they also express considerable enthusiasm for premium sound systems, and particularly systems bearing recognized high-end audio brands, says Power's Mike Marshall.
Among consumers who say they are interested in "premium audio" at a cost of $500, about 80% are willing to pay double that to get a name brand, such as Bose, he says. The top three brands, Mr. Marshall adds, are Bose, Alpine and Sony. This is no longer a luxury phenomenon. Nissan Motor Co. is offering a Rockford Fosgate system on its Nissan Sentra compact.
By Joseph White
But the dream of turning cars into digital communication hubs hasn't died. Now, car makers and technology suppliers are rallying to take another shot and to develop a safe way for drivers to manage their digital clutter and connectivity angst while on the road.
Ford Motor Co., for example, hopes to generate buzz with a system called Sync, developed in collaboration with Microsoft Corp. and being rolled out on about a dozen Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.
Ford's effort grew out of the frustration of a small group of Ford engineers with the auto industry's tendency to lag behind personal-electronics trends, says Gary Jablonski, manager of infotainment system engineering for Ford in Dearborn, Mich. "Customers want the same stuff in their cars that they see in Best Buy," he says. "We are generally a year behind."
Their idea: Develop a system, using a variant of Microsoft's Windows CE software, that can link to various digital devices using either Bluetooth wireless technology or a USB port. Then, no matter what kind of device is involved, the system can operate it using a voice-recognition system or the buttons, knobs or touch screens provided for the car's basic audio system.
If I had a Sync-equipped car, my morning drive might go like this: I would plug the iPod into a USB port in the storage bin under the center armrest and pair my BlackBerry with the car's audio system using Bluetooth.
To get the iPod to play, I could tell the system, "Play genre jazz," and the iPod would start playing tunes in that category.
To make a call, I could say, "Phone," and then say the name of a person listed in the phone's contact list. I could also sound out numbers. Using the phone hands-free would keep me legal in states that have rules against juggling the handset while in motion. However, there's considerable evidence that just carrying on a phone conversation is a distraction that undermines driving performance, whether you have a hand on the phone or not.
Provided I had the right kind of phone, I might command the system to read aloud text messages -- a better choice than reading them from the phone screen at highway speeds. The Sync system will even translate text abbreviations, such as "LOL," or "CUL8R," Mr. Jablonski says.
Perhaps Ford and Microsoft could develop a home edition of to decode the speech of teenagers for their parents' benefit.
The most impressive trick Mr. Jablonski performed was finding a British radio site on his Web-enabled phone and then piping the broadcast wirelessly from the phone to the Edge's sound system. Not every phone could do that, he cautions.
So how will all this go over in the real world, where Internet radio broadcasts time out, phone calls drop, Bluetooth earpieces produce annoying echoes, and PC software crashes?
The market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates this month released an outline of its latest survey of consumer interest in new automotive technology, which offers some encouragement and some caution for products such as Sync.
The good news is that half of the consumers polled for Power's 2007 emerging-technologies study said they would be interested in paying as much as $100 to get a USB interface in their next car. Asked if they'd pay $150 to get an iPod interface, about 43% said yes.
At a theoretical price of $200, "wireless connectivity" came in at No. 8 among 19 different technologies listed, according to Power. Ford plans to charge almost double that, about $395, for Sync as a standalone option. (It will be standard on the Lincoln lineup.)
However, Power's survey indicates consumers are generally more inter ested in certain safety technology; smart air bags, backup assistance systems and run-flat tires ranked 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
When it comes to entertainment systems, consumers want to be able to use their digital music players in the car. But they also express considerable enthusiasm for premium sound systems, and particularly systems bearing recognized high-end audio brands, says Power's Mike Marshall.
Among consumers who say they are interested in "premium audio" at a cost of $500, about 80% are willing to pay double that to get a name brand, such as Bose, he says. The top three brands, Mr. Marshall adds, are Bose, Alpine and Sony. This is no longer a luxury phenomenon. Nissan Motor Co. is offering a Rockford Fosgate system on its Nissan Sentra compact.
By Joseph White
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