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AT&T Teams With Ford, EmFinders

Dallas – Ford Motor
Company and AT&T today announced an agreement to wirelessly connect the
Ford Focus Electric.

The Ford Focus Electric
car is the company’s first all-electric passenger car; it was announced at
International CES in January and will enter production at the end of the year.

Through the MyFord
Mobile smartphone app, Ford Focus Electric owners will have the ability to send
and receive data about their car, providing command and control of vehicle
settings while away from it, the company said.

“With a wireless
connection, we’re putting battery charge and vehicle range information, along
with an interactive, data-driven trip planning app, directly at the fingertips
of our customers,” said Ed Pleet, product and business manager for Ford
Connected Services. “This technology will keep drivers connected to vital
information, enhancing their electric car ownership experience. The AT&T
network is an important part of this equation and we’re pleased to have
AT&T on board.”

At launch, the MyFord
Mobile app will be available for most major smartphones, along with a mobile
web application for compatibility with any phone supporting HTML-5
browser-based access, or feature phones with WAP 2.0-supported browsers,
AT&T said. The feature also is accessible via a secure Ford website.

Owners will use the smartphone
to communicate with a Cloud-based server that reportedly stores information
provided by the embedded wireless module in Focus Electric.

MyFord Mobile will
connect through the AT&T network, allowing users to find current and
projected state of charge information, including estimated range and the amount
of charge time necessary for additional distances. They will also be able to program
vehicle charging with utility input, allowing the car to start charging
immediately or when electricity prices are lowest.

Other features include
the ability to locate charging stations and get the destination sent to the
vehicle; know if the vehicle can reach a specific charge station from its
current location with the current charge level; create a journey with multiple
stops, while determining the likelihood that the car has adequate charge for
the full journey; and receive alerts if the vehicle isn’t charging when it’s
scheduled to, or if charging stops unexpectedly.

Users can also receive
alerts during recharge when the vehicle has reached a particular preset charge
level or has the ability to reach a particular destination, the company said.  

In a separate
announcement, AT&T said it was teaming with EmFinders to wirelessly connect
the EmSeeQ device, a wireless device that upon activation dials 911 and reports
its location directly to emergency responders.

The EmFinders EmSeeQ is
designed like a wristband that can connect to the EmFinders operation center.
The product is designed for users with medical impairments, and can only be
activated by the EmFinders operation center at the request of the caregiver.

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