Car News

Automobiles are already technological temples, but in the search for automotive technology’s next massive thing, Ford announced it will open a analysis and development facility in California’s iconic Silicon Valley.

Obviously, the long march of automotive technologies has been going on for some time: anything from headlights to heat to tire pressure is governed or checked by computers today, but infotainment tech like Ford’s Sync and MyFord Touch systems, which integrates smartphone functionality and computing into the automobile, mean that the driver’s seat is the subsequent great place to uncover new technologies.

Ford’s new dedicated investigation facility will be located on the outskirts of San Francissco’s Bay working on opening a dedicated analysis facility in San Francisco’s Bay Region. Ford says the Silicon Valley office will join forces with Ford’s comparable facilities in Dearborn, Michigan Aachen, Germany and Nanjing, China. It’ll also provide a important west coast office to permit the organization to make or keep relationships with critical tech vendors. Maintain in thoughts, of course, that Ford’s partner in Sync is Microsoft, situated in Redmond, Washington.

The announcement comes on the eve of the International Consumer Electronics Show, exactly where Ford will have a presence and deliver a keynote with CEO Alan Mulally.

The fruit of this new location lies in partnerships with new companies, potentially allowing Ford to incorporate new capabilities and functionalities in forthcoming models. For instance, Ford says it’s already operating with weather internet site Weather Underground to increase forecasts by — get this — connecting weather reports to windshield wipers, which would let the site to reconsider rainy forecasts if multiple drivers in a specific location have their windshield wipers off.

Supply: Ford