jouster

Come September 1, where I live it will be illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving, and the fines will be stiff. Hands free devices, like Ford's Sync will still be permitted. If I had my druthers, I'd like to have Sync in my Boss.
It looks like the radio in the car was capable of those functions, but they appear to be disconected. How hard would it be to enable that feature in a new Boss?
Cheers,
Jouster

5 DOT 0

While I don't miss most of the options omitted from the Boss I do wish SYNC was included. I look at it as a safety feature and an excellent pit communication device.

There are other threads discussing this topic but if it could be added for a reasonable amount of money I'd do it in a second. In the meantime I purchased a new BT ear bud and it's working fine.

bpmurr

I think this was a big miss by Ford not to offer Sync in the Boss. However, it seems since they use the base GT as the platform to build from they didn't want to spend any money updating the base stereo for Sync Support.

5 DOT 0

Another added benefit of SYNC is the BT capability for streaming music from an iPod. Cables are a PITA.

jedikd

$220 and problem solved:
http://www.amazon.com/Clarion-Mobile.../ref=de_a_smtd

NorCal Boss

I'm not really bummed at all. Its still not illegal to answer the phone as long as you put it on speaker phone, and (assuming the factory stereo has an auxiliary input) you can just route the phone audio through the car. I do it all the time.

As far as playing music with ease, I use Google Cloud's music player on my Droid, so Sync wouldn't even benefit me. I guess its all personal opinion, but I don't miss it at all.

Plus, I've read that sync is pretty user unfriendly. Maybe they improved it for 2012, but it got bashed this last model year.

5 DOT 0

Have you had a demo? I had one and within two minutes the sales guy had my phone book downloaded to the car and was streaming music from my iP4. I'm under the impression SYNC is one of the best systems out there.

Where are you located? I'm in the Sacramento area.

dean_acheson

That's a double-din unit, and the scoshe kit isn't availble yet.

NorCal Boss

All my info is from magazine reviews. There was one article that talked about how ford quality dropped several rankings this past year simply because sync became overly complicated this past year. I've never actually used it, so maybe its just that the people writing the reviews are less tech savy than my mom. Who knows.

I know you can use sync if the music is stored on the phone, but I doubt any voice commanding functionality would work with the google cloud music player since the music library is stored on the cloud not the phone. But who knows, if I could use my voice to tell the cloud what song to play, that'd be hella badass, but as it stands, I'd rather have access to the cloud than voice commanding.

jedikd

I think the "overly complicated" was regarding the MyFord Touch in some other vehicles, not the sync system in the Mustangs.

With Google Cloud player you should still have bluetooth audio controls, so you could wirelessly send the music to Sync and select music from the phone

jedikd

My mistake. I forgot that the 10+ are no longer "plug and play" when it comes to the radio removal. The 05-09 you could just remove the stock Shaker and plug a double-din straight in.

Fat Boss

Not true. At least in CA.

NorCal Boss

I live in CA and I disagree.

Edit: Here's a link as well that does a good job at describing the hands free law.

http://www.drivinglaws.org/sb1613.php

5 DOT 0

You're allowed to use the speaker phone but you're not supposed to hold the phone.

http://www.chp.ca.gov/pdf/media/cell_phone_faq.pdf

donjuaniii

But you can still eat your Big Mac and sip your soda...

Bad/distracted drivers are just gonna find another way to be bad drivers !

5 DOT 0

I passed a woman on the fwy this morning and she had a cigarette on her left hand which was on the wheel steering the car and in her right hand was a cup of coffee. She was probably applying mascara inbetween sips.

Bossdog

YOur Right! I sure would love it if Uncel Sam just stopped trying to save us from our own stupidity, Mostly becasue he cant! And generally the unintended consequences are worse than the original thing being legislated.

J1000

I was impressed with Sync for the first few days, then a couple things changed that;

1. I plugged in my iPod with the USB cable and realized that the streaming sounded like garbage compared to USB and was a PITA to startup when you first jump in the car

2. The Sync started eating (corrupting) iPods that were connected via USB, requiring a full restore and re-index, after they just went to "Indexing" endlessly (2 so far; one Touch, and one Nano)

3. The voice control decided to work about half the time

4. The instructions are written by engineers, not product specialists

5. The support is in India, and 98% useless

6. The #$^%$& bluetooth/phone interaction works about half the time.

7. I want to throw it in a dumpster and replace with an aftermarket unit that is better designed and actually works consistently. This POS is the car stereo equivalent of Windows ME, IMO.

8. The update process is needlessly frustrating, and the last update didn't fix anything.

Fat Boss

I stand corrected! I gotta stop reading that tard Gary Richards' "Road Show" column. So you can use it but can't hold it. Nice law. People are WAY more distracted now thinking they're some kind of secret spy talking down into their phone's like they're dictating or something.. And texting is a million times worse now. I've found driving is much better when I turn the ringer off on my phone and check it when I get to my destination!

Kristin

Totally agree, Fat Boss. This time of year I commute most days on my Honda Shadow and my biggest threat is the Soccer Mom in her Exploder with a latte in one hand and her cel phone in the other. I'm with the "Hang Up and Drive" crowd.