Between the Lines

Larry Dignan, Andrew Nusca and Rachel King

Ford rolls out SDK for mobile developers

By | October 8, 2010, 12:10pm PDT

Summary: Ford launched a software development kit (SDK) so developers can tailor their smartphone apps for voice recognition and in-car usage.

Ford on Friday launched a software development kit (SDK) so developers can tailor their smartphone apps for voice recognition and in-car usage.

The automaker, which made the announcement at CTIA, said it is looking to build an ecosystem for its Ford Sync system, which primarily depends on voice recognition.

Ford’s game plan is pretty clear: Leverage existing apps its drivers already know and make them car friendly.

According to the company, mobile developers seem to be into the in-car experience. Ford says it has reviewed more than 1,000 submissions from developers submitting new apps or modifying existing ones. Ford also launched a developer Web site.

Pandora, Stitcher and Orangatame’s OpenBeak are the first partners to incorporate Sync’s application interface.

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Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

Disclosure

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn’t hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.

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RE: Ford rolls out SDK for mobile developers
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
It can be this sort of a incredible football jersey reference you could be providing and you also give it absent for extensively zero fee.
0 Votes
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I sincerely hope...
TripleII-21189418044173169409978279405827 8th Oct 2010
That there is no physical connection between the cars functions and the sync system itself. Literally, no link whatsoever between car functions and the entertainment system. i.e. the very worst that could ever happen, a hacker messes with your GPS route or causes Barry Manilow to play constantly as opposed to killing the ECU.

If so, sounds like a good way to distinguish themselves in the industry.

TripleII
0 Votes
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@Triple II... Are you still wearing that tin foil hat?

Seriously?
0 Votes
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What tinfoil hat?
TripleII-21189418044173169409978279405827 8th Oct 2010
@unredeemed
If hackers can do something, just to prove they can, they will. I don't see anything wrong with two completely isolated systems. Not because of "Government" or "OS Wars" or whatever.

I could be wrong, but maybe, just maybe Ford's software and/or SDK has a software flaw or two. Certainly NOBODY ever tries to make malicious software anywhere in the world.

TripleII
@TripleII

As far as I know, Sync has never been hacked. Which must be doubly upsetting to ABMers since Sync is running Windows (Windows Automotive, a version of Windows Embedded to be more precise).
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Ford rolls out SDK for mobile developers
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
It can be this sort of a incredible football jersey reference you could be providing and you also give it absent for extensively zero fee.

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