Ford's third-generation touchscreen infotainment system, Sync 3, will mark a leap from the Microsoft-based technology in use since 2007 to Blackberry's QNX in-car operating system, the automaker announced Thursday.
The touchscreen infotainment system, no longer called 'MyFord Touch,' will begin its rollout on 2016 model year vehicles, and will include a host of improvements over the critically-derided current tech.
The new system is both quicker and more intuitive than the current system which debuted in 2010. Sync 3 will also be "device-agnostic," that is, completely compatible with any brand of smartphone. It will even make use of Apple's Siri Eyes Free capabilities.
The new eight-inch touchscreen is the same size as before, but buttons and text will be larger and background colours brighter. The voice controls will be able to better understand more natural, conversational speech as well.
Upgrades to Sync 3 will no longer have to be completed manually at a dealership; instead they will be able to be sent out to customers remotely, like on the Tesla Model S.
Ford expects the Sync 3 option to cost about $1,000, roughly on par with the current MyFord Touch. Ford also recently announced many of their models will be made available with physical buttons and knobs instead of the flat touch-based switches they had been moving toward.
