The Ford Sync: On the Road and Taking Your Digital Life With You

College students everywhere were dying of anticipation about a month ago, waiting to get their hands on one of Apple’s new iPhones, hailed by some as the new messiah of mobile media. Released last month, it was one of the most hyped products in years, with ads plastered all over the Internet, television and pretty much anywhere else you looked. (See our iPhone review here.)

 

But at $499–$599, the iPhone’s price tag may be a little steep for you if you’re the average college student. Especially if you were looking to drop almost $1,000 on a new computer for school in the fall.

 

For those of you who can’t quite bring yourselves to cough up the $500 Apple’s asking, there’s now a cheaper alternative to the iPhone.

 

Well, sort of. And there’s a catch.

 

 

Cheaper Than an iPhone?

 

The Ford Sync, being debuted this fall as the premier “in-vehicle integration system,” allows you to connect your cell phone with your MP3 player and other digital devices in one simple, easy-to-manage unit.

 

The Sync will only run you about $395, which is $200 cheaper than the higher-end iPhone.

 

The catch? You’ve got to buy a car to get it.

 

Now, if you’re in the market for new wheels at the same time you happen to be dying for a gadget as cool as the iPhone, you’re in luck. Just buy one of the 12 “high series” Ford or Lincoln-Mercury models that come equipped with the Sync. Or if you’re getting a lower end model, add the Sync as an option for $395 .

 

Although only available on 12 models this fall, over the next couple of years, according to an article that appeared on Jalopnik.com, the Sync will become standard on all Ford and Lincoln-Mercury models (“Ford Offers Sync System for $395,” Aug. 9, 2007).

 

 

The Sync vs. the iPhone

In all fairness, the Apple iPhone and Ford Sync aren’t really head-to-head competitors, although they have a lot in common. The iPhone, a do-everything mobile-media device of extraordinary design, integrates Web browsing, e-mail, a PDA and an iPod into a cell phone.

 

The Sync, on the other hand, isn’t an on-the-go media device but an “in-car communications and entertainment system” meant to network all those on-the-go media devices. The Sync allows you to combine your MP3 player, your Bluetooth-compatible cell phone, and any other media devices into a single rolling mobile communications center for your car.

 

 

Go Hands-Free With Voice Recognition

 

What’s really cool about the Sync? Its voice recognition feature lets you choose the songs or playlists you want to listen to just by naming them. No more risking your life and everyone else’s on the road because you’re fiddling with buttons, dials or click-wheels.

 

 

The Entertainment and Communications Headquarters That Rolls With You

 

Ford developed the Sync in an attempt to appeal to the MP3 generation that’s increasingly demanding more and more ways to stay plugged in wherever they are, whenever it is.

 

Ford’s research, according to the Jalopnik piece, found that more than 70 percent of those looking to buy new cars want to be able to use their digital media players in their vehicles.

 

And in that group of people so prized by marketing execs, consumers aged 18 to 24, nearly 60 percent own at least one digital media player, which most of them will be wanting to hook up when they’re out looking for their new car.

 

“Drivers want a simple solution to stay connected to the information, entertainment and people most important to them while on the road,” says Velle Kolde, product manager of Microsoft’s Automotive Business Unit, as quoted by Jalopnik. “Ford Sync, based on the Microsoft Auto software platform, is an updatable, smart and convenient solution for connecting your car with your life.”

 

 

Whatever your hang-up, whether you go into a state of paralysis without your cell phone, or you’re spinning ultimate MP3 mixes 24/7, or you’re a mobile media junkie who needs it all, the Ford Sync brings your digital world together. So you can stay connected and text, talk, DJ, e-mail or even work on your Lit 101 paper while you’re on a spur-of-the-moment weekend road trip or just trying to get through the traffic to get to class.

 

Now your only decision is which Ford car you’re going to buy.

 

 

Go to www.nextstudent.com for all your student loan needs.

 

Student Loan Girl