In-car Sync system gets free 911 calls

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2008 | by Edward C. Baig and Chris Woodyard

LAS VEGAS -- Microsoft and Ford Motor are adding emergency-call capability with no monthly fee to Sync -- their joint, in-car wireless system that lets drivers control cellphones and music players with voice commands -- in a challenge to General Motors' OnStar technology.

The companies made the announcement during Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' speech Sunday night that opened the giant Consumer Electronics Show. The move gives Ford and Microsoft a boost in a hot arena for automotive competition: the melding of personal electronics into the car.

"Ford really has driven people into the dealerships because they want to see Sync," Gates said in an interview earlier Sunday. "The response to the product has been phenomenal."

Ford says it has sold 33,000...