Ford to offer iTunes tagging in their cars
Just as 2009 was ending, Ford announced that they'll be offering a new option in their cars for 2010: the ability to "tag" any songs you happen to hear on the radio for later purchase in iTunes. It'll be an option, so it won't come standard in the new Taurus you buy, but if you opt for the HD Radio, the stereo will have a "tag" button that will capture the information of whatever you're hearing, sync it to your connected iPod and then bring it up for purchase in iTunes the next time you're at your computer. It sounds like a win-win for everybody: Ford gets to sell HD Radios, radio stations get more listener involvement, and Apple and the music companies get your sales (presuming you complete the purchase).
It'd be nice to have the song automatically sent to iTunes (or even transmitted via Bluetooth to your iPhone -- maybe even via an official app -- next time it happens to be near the car), but one step at a time, I guess. Don't forget that you don't even need this option to mark any music you happen to hear: if you have an iPhone, you can use Shazam's iPhone app to listen in, tell you whatever the song is, and save it for purchase later if you want. It's a free download in iTunes, lots cheaper than a brand new car.
