Ford Ranger Gets SYNC
Ford South Africa has expanded the smart technologies offered in the Ford Ranger with the addition of its Ford SYNC with Bluetooth and Voice Control.
Using the hands-free technology of SYNC, customers are able to connect almost any mobile phone or digital media player to the vehicle’s multimedia system via Bluetooth or USB connection.
By means of simple voice commands or the controls mounted on the steering wheel, drivers are able to manage the system’s wide range of features, from selecting phone contacts and making calls to choosing an artist or track, and even listening to text messages.
“Ford SYNC has revolutionised the way drivers interact with their vehicles, providing intuitive and convenient control of the in-car communications and entertainment features,” says Tracey Delate, Ford Marketing Manager. “The system also makes an important contribution to driving safety by allowing the driver to focus on the road while using voice commands for a vast range of functions.”
SYNC has become an integral part of Ford’s pioneering smart technologies that are developed to suit the modern, connected lifestyle. It is available across most of the current Ford line-up including the Fiesta, Focus, Kuga, Fusion, Transit and Tourneo.
“By introducing SYNC to the Ranger XLS, XLT and Wildtrak models at no additional cost to the customer, we are making the technology more accessible and ensuring that the Ranger stands out even further from the competition,” Delate says.
SYNC responds to and recognises up to 150 different voice commands, can store up to 12 phones and hold up to 1 000 contacts per paired phone – all of which can be dialled by voice once the phonebook is downloaded to the system, without the need to record voice tags for each contact as is the case with the current system. It can also read out incoming SMS text messages from compatible phones.
On the music front, the system fully integrates the user’s portable media players or USB device. Using the Voice Control function now allows users to specifically select artist, album, individual tracks, genre or playlists by their actual titles, thereby providing much easier control of music choices.