Ford Plans iTunes Tagging, Internet Radio

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 12/29/2009

Dearborn, Mich. - Ford will launch the industry's first factory-installed iTunes tagging HD Radios on select Ford vehicles in calendar 2010, the automaker announced.

Also in 2010, the automaker said it would offer Internet radio through Ford Sync system from Bluetooth-streaming smartphones.

The iTunes tagging radios will bookmark a song heard over an HD Radio FM station for later purchasing and downloading from the iTunes store. Consumers hit the "tag" button on the radio to store the metadata and unique identifier code of up to 100 songs in the radio's memory. The data can be transferred to an iPod docked with the vehicle's Sync system, and when the iPod itself syncs to iTunes via a PC, a list of "tagged" songs appears on the PC for preview, purchase and download.

Ford's iTunes tagging radios will join multiple aftermarket car and home tabletop radios along with a pair of Yamaha A/V receivers with the iTunes tagging feature.

Ford declined to specify the vehicle models that will offer the iTunes tagging and Internet radio features and precisely when they would be available. "The first vehicles that will feature the new [iTunes tagging] capability will be revealed in early 2010," a spokesperson added.