Dearborn, Mich. – Ford will launch the industry’s
first factory-installed iTunes
tagging
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
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.
