Ford Updates Multimedia Systems, Again

Ford's latest update to its Sync and MyFord Touch systems aims to streamline voice recognition, enlarge on-screen buttons and simplify smartphone pairing. The updates also apply to MyLincoln Touch from Ford's luxury division. The Sync updates should simplify some of the system's multistep voice commands, and MyFord Touch/MyLincoln Touch will get larger touch-sensitive areas along the four-quadrant home screen to reach specific menus (navigation or audio, for example), the Detroit News reports. Ford should unveil the free online download next week for Ford and Lincoln drivers with the system, the newspaper said. It's the latest in a string of updates Ford has sent to owners, either through mailed USB drives or online updates, for its MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch systems. The largest came in November 2011, when Ford tried to simplify the system's fonts and reduce lag with a major software update. We tested the new system, and it didn't live up to its billing. The updates come as Ford weathers criticism — from ours to J.D. Power and Associates' quality scores — over its touch-capacitive controls. The automaker announced in June it would bring more buttons to future versions of MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch that would follow the layout in Ford's F-Series pickup trucks. That system retains most buttons, as opposed to the button-avoidant panels in the Explorer and Edge SUVs. Related Ford to Add More Physical Buttons to MyFord Touch Living with MyFord Touch on a 3,500-Mile Road Trip More Ford News from KickingTires http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/

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