Ford SYNC System Reads Text Messages If You Have The Right Phone
Ford has equipped much of their lineup with a rapidly evolving infotainment system called SYNC. Lately, we have become accustomed to the little Microsoft badges in many of our Ford and Lincoln test cars announcing this hardware that can combine an audio system with Bluetooth connectivity, MP3 playback, and voice recognition. Among the many innovative features, SYNC can read texts off of your mobile phone. We were all intrigued when we heard of this capability, and it has become even more relevant now with new laws against texting while driving. Only one problem: Not one of us to date has ever been able to make it work. Not a single Blackberry or Apple iPhone is supported by Ford Sync for text messaging!
When I tried to activate text to speech, I was greeted with a dreadful “Not Supported” display. I racked my brain. Did I do something wrong? After all, my phone was equipped seemingly with every feature known to man. The Touch Pro 2 has Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, A2DP (streaming stereo music), voice recognition, and a bunch of other stuff than most people will never figure out how to use. But most importantly, it was powered by Microsoft – just like the SYNC system on this 2011 Mustang. In fact, the Touch Pro 2 has Microsoft’s very latest operating system: Windows Mobile Professional 6.5. Needing guidance, I went to Ford’s SYNC website. It proudly touts the text-message-to-speech capability without a single asterisk. But with some digging on the site, I was able to download a 12 page PDF document that listed supported phones.
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