- Ford said 1,000 employees in Michigan will begin beta-testing a software upgrade for the MyFord Touch system, which debuts on the 2013 Escape, Flex and Taurus.
- In early November, Ford announced that it would offer upgrades and new features for the MyFord Touch system following complaints about "problems with new technology" in the 2011 Consumer Reports reliability survey.
- The software upgrade will be offered at no charge to existing MyFord Touch owners.
DEARBORN, Michigan — Ford said 1,000 employees in Michigan will begin beta-testing a software upgrade for the much-maligned MyFord Touch infotainment system. The upgrade, which Ford said is "designed to make the system faster, simpler and easier to use," debuts on the 2013 Escape, Flex and Taurus and will be available early next year to current owners of other Ford models with the system.
Ford said the 2013 MyFord Touch system will get new touchscreens with simpler graphics and easier-to-use controls, as well as enhancements to phone compatibility, voice recognition, navigation maps and destination entry.
In early November, Ford announced that it would offer upgrades and new features for the MyFord Touch system following complaints about "problems with new technology" in the 2011 Consumer Reports reliability survey.
The Consumer Reports survey, released in late October, said that Ford's reliability rating dropped due to problems with MyFord Touch and the automated manual transmission in the Ford Fiesta and Focus.
The software upgrade will be offered at no charge to existing MyFord Touch owners, the automaker said, on such MyFord Touch-equipped vehicles as the 2011 and 2012 Ford Explorer and Edge and 2012 Focus. Owners of the 2011 and 2012 Lincoln MKX will also get the upgrade.
Ford said that it will send U.S. owners a USB flash drive with the MyFord Touch software upgrade early next year. It can be installed by the owner or a dealer.
Before it is released to the public, the MyFord Touch upgrade will begin a month-long, "real world" beta test this week among 1,000 Ford employees driving company lease vehicles.
Ford said the beta test is "part of a new, innovative approach to ensure a high-quality launch of the improved system." The company said employees involved in the test will provide "real-world feedback, helping us polish the final product before it goes to our customers."
Inside Line says: A sensible approach to what has been an ongoing customer- and public-relations nightmare.
Add A Comment »
ronyapo says:
12:07 PM, 01/06/2012
So what is the new version going to read : SyncGen2-4.23.11135?
1rodnoib says:
07:42 PM, 12/19/2011
Small touch buttons and fingerprints don't cause the whole frigging system to freeze and crash. There is a real PROBLEM with a lot of these MFT units, hence the FREE "upgrade" / fix.
ne1butu2 says:
08:31 PM, 12/13/2011
No, it's not an impossible system to use. But the touch sensitive screen is not responsive, the various areas are too small, and the damn GUI is just ugly. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to have a flat screen for such a thing? Even as a passenger, it's totally frustrating. I never thought that the iDrive/MMI dial would be considered a good thing. But it's a thousand times better.
ne1butu2 says:
08:31 PM, 12/13/2011
No, it's not an impossible system to use. But the touch sensitive screen is not responsive, the various areas are too small, and the damn GUI is just ugly. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to have a flat screen for such a thing? Even as a passenger, it's totally frustrating. I never thought that the iDrive/MMI dial would be considered a good thing. But it's a thousand times better.
robr2 says:
05:34 AM, 12/13/2011
As a My Ford Touch owner and fairly tech savvy person, it's a good system in theory. But it is slow to respond and the voice activation isn't perfect - especially on the navigation side. Good for Ford for offering this update at no charge.
kymerik says:
09:38 PM, 12/12/2011
All this means is the majority of people buying fords are too damn dumb to understand it. Most of the features in Sync and MFT are actually EASIER than buttons, and it reduces clutter on the dash. It's not Ford's fault people lack brain cells. When I test drove a focus in mid June, i hopped in the car, and within minutes already figured everything out, as did my mother who bought the car a month later. Hell, my 11 year old sister figured it out within minutes too. Enough of the whining and complaining, most of the people who claim it's garbage have never even touched it, or are trolls who are fanboys of other makes.
lolxd says:
09:16 PM, 12/12/2011
The same people complaining about MyFord Touch is the same people complaining about Microsoft and their "complicated" OS that needs to be maintained regularly.
Wow, if you people hate MyFord touch so much then why did you bother considering the option? It's not like Ford is forcing it up your asses.
And we like things different. We want thing a bit more complicated. If we want something simple then we wouldn't be here using a complicated device called a COMPUTER and moaning in a complicated place called the INTERNET.
We would be up in the farms, sowing, harvesting or whatever our ancestors did to live. Geez, what's with so much complaints?
openeyes1 says:
06:19 PM, 12/12/2011
Here's an idea, get rid of the MyFord touch, and bring back user control (buttons and knobs). Just because a teen or twenty something wants to make the world overly complicated, doesn't mean all of us have to this bad technology shoved down our throats.
Ford could always offer it in a 'Marquis de Sade' edition of their vehicles, for those who enjoy a trip to the rack.
heidis says:
05:38 PM, 12/12/2011
More like alpha testing, if the current state of the MyTouch stuff is any indication as to how Ford and Microsoft run their development cycles. That buggy bit of kit is appalling from a software development perspective. Hopefully Ford has learned a lesson out of the well deserved media slapping they've gotten from the problems. Great concept, poorly executed.
mce63 says:
05:08 PM, 12/12/2011
So what happens in ten years when someone wants to buy your car? How much will it cost to upgrade the software to the current version? And worse, what happens when Ford decides that it is no longer supported.
Cisco announced they were going to shuttering the Flip. Nothing wrong with it, it just didn't fit their business. A couple of years from now, all support will be gone. Think this won't happen to in-car entertainment systems?