The Canadian Champion, Friday, May 30, 2008 - C5 Sync-ronicity Ford and Microsoft revolutionize in-car connectuvuty By MICHAEL BANOVSKY c Tiw downstde to rapid progress i10 i elettronics means that automrakers are ronstantis on the hatk foot when it cornes to totalit emnbrar îng tiwxs tchnoi- opi Vhat dc\ ces shonild thei support Wh at devs illi people hc uistng nr îhctr c, r e\t s Wr \hat aîbout sîx niottnhs fron nosv? Spendîng os er $30,000 on a r ar that doesn t knox what an itPod tr wouidn't be s tewcd hy techno-sacsN s ht>crs as money weii spent. To combat anti coînient the con- stant crowd of new destces, Forci and Micruosoft have teamied up to produce Sync, a new take on artîomottve tonner- tivtty Both a hardware and software soiu- tion, it pairs sîeening wheei conîrois and an interniai microphonte wtth a sophisti- cated software piatform mounted in the car. The systema can tnterface wtth most USB-based media piayers, inciudtng the incombent (îPod) and challengers (lune, Nomad Zen, etc.). By interface, i mean you cao take direct conîroi of' the piayer from the cars controis. Your piayer wiii aiso charge through the USB port. You tan aiso siot in a USB thumh drive -a smaii, unpowered memory stick that cao be ioaded wîth any content fromt any computer, tnciudîng thousands of MP3 files. Synt cari access any music con- îaîned on a USB thumb dosve, provided it îsn'î a protected format (iTunes store pur- r hases wonît work, but AAC and WVMA files, among others, wii.) it wii play pro- tected iîrînes store purchases oniy if they're stîi on yrbur iPod. Aiso îociuded is an 1/8-înch auxiiary toputjack for devîces that tan't be, ahem, 1synt'd' through USB. As an added party trick, Synt wiil sîream audio from any Biuetooth device. If you're sc itnclined, mtusic cao be served rip wîîh voîce commands. Sîmpiy îorîch the button on the sîeening wheei, watt for the promtpt, and sav: "USB," then, "ly"music front your devîce wii stant to play if you're dying to hear your just- downIoaded Best Of Prince compilation, say: "play album, Besi Of Prince," and tomn on yorîr wîpers - vou'Ii be in for some Purpie Ramn. Commands that work are: album, artisi, genre, track nante, or play similar -whîch wii shuffle and grab other sîm- iar aruiscs and piayistrs I'm a bit of a bof- fin, so part of ntv tesîîng duning the iactnch event cenîered on what it won'î play wîîh sotte cotoiantis i m sad to repotir i rortidnt stump it. If its conftîsed. Svnc wii read four rlose mnatchbes, and have yoct pick one of thent. fi aul works very weii, and cao use one otf three iaogtîages - Ainertean English, Canadian French, and North Aineritan 'ipantsh. Il vorir phone bas Birtetooth svoct tan access îrîSî abouit ans aspect of vorr destce Irom Ss'nt 'son can sts a number alooti andti tii citai îî, otr tisi sa, the0 per- soný nine if tues btsve mîore thaît one crîit nr ii phottebook, 5\n xc il ii .si îotii i %i e pin ci it til llite 11U1 't i o c l 11 s, , tic n xi i, i \i,'î'îi an ui t ý'tio \ic ', 'îî ,c t, i 'ct miî bc ii,iitriit'ci ihiriugit x i i ii i i i t ttc tts tr tti tci tti iti t t litc foli i ii t,1g ii oi'ttci 0(UMan(!ii t t i li i ix ii [irtitgi sou tîtotrd dealer. acessttg voteîr ccii pixtît aîndigia uic But (0petc experctîce nîi \,t secît on tits sîde oii [s'en if cui e tnot in the morid iii taik to your wîîb ,îns hing, il y'u enîbrare Syn ad liizis the ociii 2008 FORD ESCAPE Get O%*Purchase Financing for 36 months on most Escape models. Canadian Delivery Allowance of $2000* Includes the features you want: -AdvanceTrac®9 w/RoII Stabiiity Control - Powerdome Huud MP3 Audio Jack - Fog Lamps & Auto Lamps - 16" Cast-Aluminum Wheeis - Personal Satety System - Earth Frienidiy Seat Fabric J Aniti-Iock Braking System -odE --p.i and' BetSlîg Co p S UV optional equipment Hurry int Gallinger's and gel the vehicle you really want. S A L