Tag: FORD

Ford decided to use CES as the stage to announce its foray into the field of electric vehicles. In late 2011, the American car company will begin selling the Focus Electric, the first member of its all-electric fleet of vehicles, which will grow to a total of five by 2013. Though the company would not say how far the car can travel on a charge, or what the MPG-equivalence is, it promised that the ...

Ford has not officially announced an all-electric vehicle yet, but that hasn't stopped the company from unveiling 'MyFord Mobile,' an app specifically designed to work with a (currently non-existent) battery-powered car. Ford announced Android, iPhone and BlackBerry versions of the app, along with an HTML5-powered Web-app, accessible from a PC and many dumbphones. The app allows a user to do all ...

Looking to compete with Ford's Sync's messaging technology, GM's OnStar may soon add text messaging and Facebook updates to its on-board communication system. According to The Detroit Free Press, a source claims that OnStar subscribers will be able to transmit text messages and Facebook updates via the on-board communications system by the end of the month. Before you safety advocates go berserk, ...

Highlights from this morning's big tech headlines.... Foursquare mayor wannabes have an extra incentive to return to their pub or hot dog joint of choice. The location-based service will now let you know when you're within a mere 10 check-ins of an elusive mayorship. [From: foursquare blog] Google's new Gmail calling functionality has been used over 1 million times in the service's first ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... The revamped Ask.com, which will actually utilize live humans to field certain queries, just entered beta mode and is currently accepting invitation requests. [From: Ask.com] Director and founding member of Monty Python Terry Gilliam reportedly plans to direct the live YouTube webcast of Arcade Fire's August 5th concert at ...

AJ is a lime green, decal-bedecked 2011 Ford Fiesta. Like HAL from '2001,' he has his own man-made intelligence, and thus the gendered pronoun. He's been making his way around the country, sending messages to anyone who will listen. You see, AJ is a car that tweets. Ford engineers gave AJ (short for American Journey 2.0) the ability to connect to the Internet by outfitting him with a Dell ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Even though its handheld 3DS is making the move extra-dimensional move, Nintendo reportedly plans to bypass 3-D technology with the next Wii incarnation, primarily because of a purported lack of consumer demand. [From: Ubergizmo] Facing three years in prison and $250,000 in fines, Kevin Cogill -- the 'Chinese Democracy' ...

BlueBotics develops impressive mobile robots that incorporate the company's unique Autonomous Navigation Technology (ANT). ANT serves as the backbone of BlueBotics' various innovative projects, including the driver-less Paquito industrial forklift, the Shrimp III planetary explorer and the ExoMars rover prototypes. Just like those ingenious machines, the BlueBotics creators need fuel, and -- ...

Although driving-while-texting has nearly dethroned smoking as the hottest no-no du jour, several car manufacturers are pushing forward with plans to introduce a whole new distraction. Get ready for Wi-Fi on your dashboard. At CES this year, Ford unveiled plans to expand its THINK system in collaboration with Microsoft. The expanded setup would entail having Wi-Fi installed directly into a car, ...

Automotive manufacturers are currently embarking on a significant modernization movement, increasingly transforming cars into technology-fueled mobile offices. [Ed. note: Sounds like safe, non-distracted driving!] Numerous companies are using this week's CES festivities as an opportunity to showcase the latest developments in auto tech, some of those being new dashboard features and upgrades. ...

While other U.S. car manufacturers have been mired down in bankruptcy and the near-total collapse of the automotive industry, Ford continues its devotion to an impressive modernization movement. The company's trend toward technological advancement began in earnest with the voice-controlled Microsoft Sync program, which is set to begin its second phase next year. According to Engadget, the next ...

Seat belts are the foundation of automobile safety, and they are receiving a high-tech makeover from none other than Ford Motor Company. According to a Ford press release, rear passengers in the company's 2010 Explorers will be the first to experience inflatable seat belt technology. The seat belts look just like traditional seat belts, but inflate within 40 milliseconds following a crash ...

Apparently all those studies and advertisements about the dangers of texting while driving are getting through to the American people. According to Motor Trend, Ford recently commissioned a survey that found 93-percent of the participants support a nationwide ban on texting while driving. It looks like the automotive giant surveyed a bunch of cynics though -- because only 42-percent said they ...

Our parents started getting really uptight as the days between us and that most liberating of birthdays (16) ticked away. The pestering never ended: "You'd better put that seat belt on, first thing when you get in." "Yes, ma'am." Disciplinary threats, filled with images of being driven to senior prom in the station wagon, terrified us. Of course, upon receiving the keys, we jumped through the ...

Earlier this year, Ford announced significant tech-related upgrades to its bellwether Taurus, and, according to Wired, models with one significant addition will hit the market this summer. While adaptive cruise control is already available in certain foreign cars, the Taurus will provide a more affordable, and domestically produced, alternative. The radar-aided cruise control accelerates and ...