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Ford escapes Microsoft and pairs with Blackberry

Ford escapes Microsoft and pairs with Blackberry

Did you hear the one about the car company, stuck with a trouble-prone dashboard interface, pairing with the cell phone company that no one uses anymore? Sounds like a setup for a late night joke. But the news that Ford is looking to replace its Microsoft-based operating system behind Sync and MyFord Touch with software from the Blackberry subsidiary QNX is no laughing matter. Turns out it’s good news, indeed.

QNX operating systems already run many modern automotive infotainment systems, including Chevrolet’s MyLink, Toyota Entune, BMW ConnectedDrive, and Audi MMI. Put simply, those systems have seen fewer problems than MyFord Touch, according to recent years of Consumer Reports’ reliability survey data. Multiple software updates have brought some reliability improvements to Ford’s bedeviled system to newer models, but it still remains overly buggy.

According to the Detroit News, a Ford representative said that owners would be able to download the new operating system to their existing cars this year or next. Hopefully the change in operating systems will eliminate the system crashes we experienced in our Ford Edge and Ford Flex and wipe out the other remaining bugs.