Ford's SYNCMyRide app forgives you for your lame phone, transfers contacts to your car
By Chris Ziegler 
posted December 14th 2009 9:16PM
posted December 14th 2009 9:16PM
Bluetooth connectivity between phones and SYNC-equipped Fords is nothing new, but the problem is that a good number of handsets out there in the wild don't support phonebook download (seriously, check the compatibility chart) which means you can't dial names by voice -- and what's the fun in calling anyone if there isn't at least a small chance of your car confusing "Dad" for "Vlad"? That's where Ford's all-new SYNCMyRide comes into play, an app for Windows and Mac machines that'll take the names and numbers (up to 2,000) off your 
The irony here is that the overwhelming chances are that anyone with such a lameass phone doesn't read engadget.com!
why did they only certify ancient nokia phones?
@creepin That list is just terrible. Looks like someone at ford went through craigslist and just snatched up old phones for free. The iphone they tested on looks like it was firmware 2.0, they list the Sprint Mogul (6800), while 2 newer versions of that phone have come out already!
@yankees368 The real joke is the fact that newer phones like LG's Xenon is shown not working, but the Neon (the Xenon's shitty sister) should work according to the chart.
Lists no unlocked phones either.
Must be a REALLY old phone because my dad's 4 1/2 year old RAZR works just fine.
I got sync setup to dial hoes by their area codes.
My HTC Hero doesn't seem to be on the list. Am i considered to have a lame phone?
Ford is really pushing the cutting edge with tech.. You guys should do an article about in depth about sync and the carputer that comes on some models..
It just isn't Ford, it seems to be a lot of auto brands with their proprietary Bluetooth connectivity crap. Why can't they just make the bluetooth systems in cars just like they do with headsets that are just a speaker and microphone. I've got an Acura TL, they still haven't tested a lot of phones, and heck by the time they're done testing, the phones are already off the market, it really pisses me off how I have to shop around them because of a feature I probably use quite a bit next to voice calls, and data. Wish there was just some auto standard for this.
Sorry, but not just vintage phones! I don't think any of the current Android phones support the BT profile for that either, my G1 included. I wouldn't exactly consider those vintage, even though the poor BT support is certainly lame-ass.
@patsy My mother's droid works fine with sync. I just wish they'd add support for the sms feature on some cdma phones. It doesnt even support windows mobile.
sounds like xzibit came up with this...
The sad thing is that the RAZR2 V9 seems to support more things than the iPhone, the Curve 8300, and the Pre.
Just so happens I downloaded a *bunch* of contacts from my Palm Pre to my Prius today, and it worked fine. Was especially happy to see that the Prius has an interface for jumping around a lot of contacts (ABC, DEF-type alpha selection ranges). I was worried that I'd have to just scroll, which is fine if there's 20, but not if there's hundreds...
*cough*, Verizon. Guess I can't say much I ditched Verizon for an iPhone that's crippled as if it's a Verizon product, but come on guys, it's 2009! My Ericsson T39 supported this in 2002, and when I bought it, it was an old model.
er, okay, now I look on Wikipedia and see the T39 prototype was the world's first phone with built-in bluetooth.. but still.
I find Sync to be fiddly, inaccurate, limited, and mostly just a pain. I would never get it on any car of mine (or put another way, I wouldn't pay to get it, and it wouldn't be a factor in my choosing a car).
It seems so "beta" to me. We have it in all our cars at work.
The only good thing I can say about it is that the hands-free works well.
If you're a fan of voicemail menu hell, then you'll love Sync. I'm just saying. I'd take a dedicated iPhone dock, a standard 3x4 telephone keypad array, and some good steering wheel controls over Sync's mess any day, and it would be a much more smooth-running experience.