Poll: New MFT release in July?

[jrmexplorer]

Since it's already July 11th and we have not heard a whisper from Ford about when this new magic software is to be released, I'd say the odds that this is going to come out in July are slim to none with slim leaving town fast.

What are your thoughts?

 

[shoeman]

I have been running 2.8 from day one with my ex. I have had two system maintanance black outs and reboots, for the most part it has been working fine , but will welcome any upgrade that will make it faster , this is not the system that I thought it would be , or any of us for that matter.

 

[Joe Dirt]

There is too much information on the interwebz.

 

[RandyH2]

The first "next month" was back in May....
Software is notorious for missing deadlines which I suppose is why we don't have a release date.

Are they producing the 2012 yet?

 

[1995E]

As long as they get it perfect and not release a stupid one again. I'll be fine. Take their time.

 

[vfral1]

As long as they get it perfect and not release a stupid one again. I'll be fine. Take their time.

I would be okay with that as well, but they have never officially said that they are going to release any kind of update. We are all hanging on to a rumor of an update.

They would buy my paitience by officially admitting that there is a problem with their software and that they were going to fix each and every last bug.


Are you listening Ford?

 

[drober30]

I would be okay with that as well, but they have never officially said that they are going to release any kind of update. We are all hanging on to a rumor of an update.

They would buy my paitience by officially admitting that there is a problem with their software and that they were going to fix each and every last bug.


Are you listening Ford?

The official Ford Customer Service Reps stated that a "major" update was coming in July. This was stated here and on FB.

 

[TourGuide]

You know what gets me about the updates is the Ford policy I keep hearing about where you get ONE update under warranty. Say WHAT?!!

Anybody with the MFT, is this what you've been told?

I was thinking the new Ford tech sounded kind of cool and all, but that crap just wont work for me. If I'm only getting one update for free I'm NOT INTERESTED in any Ford product with this system. As far as I'm concerned, if I cannot get updated at ANY TIME during warranty, or after for that matter, to a bug free edition then I will absolutely AVOID any Ford product with this or any similar system. Absolute STUPIDITY on Ford's part if the limited update business is true.

 

[vulnox]

This was already covered in another thread. One of the Ford customer service reps that was on here clarified that you get free upgrades for every new release (2.4 -> 2.7 -> 2.8, each upgrade is free) but if you have to reflash one, so 2.8->2.8, it MAY not be covered. That kind of depends on the dealer and how much noise you have to make.

This policy may change for the better or worse, but we don't know yet.

I don't have my Explorer yet, hoping this week, but still looking forward to MFT. I still think having it is far better than not having it, and the time I have spent with it has been pretty great. My iPhone 3G had bugs and that for the first year, apps crash all the time, etc, but they got it worked out and running pretty damn reliably between year 1 and 2. They may have rushed MFT, but I have confidence that Ford and their partners will get this worked out in time.

You know what gets me about the updates is the Ford policy I keep hearing about where you get ONE update under warranty. Say WHAT?!!

Anybody with the MFT, is this what you've been told?

I was thinking the new Ford tech sounded kind of cool and all, but that crap just wont work for me. If I'm only getting one update for free I'm NOT INTERESTED in any Ford product with this system. As far as I'm concerned, if I cannot get updated at ANY TIME during warranty, or after for that matter, to a bug free edition then I will absolutely AVOID any Ford product with this or any similar system. Absolute STUPIDITY on Ford's part if the limited update business is true.

 

[FordService]

This was already covered in another thread. One of the Ford customer service reps that was on here clarified that you get free upgrades for every new release (2.4 -> 2.7 -> 2.8, each upgrade is free) but if you have to reflash one, so 2.8->2.8, it MAY not be covered. That kind of depends on the dealer and how much noise you have to make.

This policy may change for the better or worse, but we don't know yet.

I don't have my Explorer yet, hoping this week, but still looking forward to MFT. I still think having it is far better than not having it, and the time I have spent with it has been pretty great. My iPhone 3G had bugs and that for the first year, apps crash all the time, etc, but they got it worked out and running pretty damn reliably between year 1 and 2. They may have rushed MFT, but I have confidence that Ford and their partners will get this worked out in time.

You’re right vulnox: I verified that that dealer-installed updates of MyFord Touch/MyLincoln Touch are covered under warranty once per update. Please keep in mind that if you have any concerns, please feel free to call the In-Vehicle Technology team (800-392-3673 - Option 1 then 3) for live troubleshooting. Also, for those asking about the next update for MFT, I’ve been told that it should be released by the end of the month but an exact date isn’t available yet. I’ll post here as soon as I find anything new.

Cory

 

[esandye]

I would imagine the next update will be concurrent with the start of the 2012 production and then available to all of us as soon as that happens.

 

[Sgt1411]

It will be out July 31st 2359 hrs...LOL

 

[gdecamp]

It will be out July 31st 2359 hrs...LOL

I would listen to Sgt1411 he was first to report it so he probably knows the exact time.

I guess there will be a mad dash to the dealers when it comes out and trying to get it scheduled should be interesting. I am hoping I get it by my birthday...December 29th..

 

[OneFast440]

I thought you could update the system without going to the dealership, through USB Flash Drives. Am I wrong?

 

[Sgt1411]

I would listen to Sgt1411 he was first to report it so he probably knows the exact time.

I guess there will be a mad dash to the dealers when it comes out and trying to get it scheduled should be interesting. I am hoping I get it by my birthday...December 29th..

Honestly I dont know I was just being a Smart A@@

I found out first because I got the chance to speak with the Chief Platform Engineer on the Explorer program and he was quite clear that this issue was being taken very seriously right up to Mr Mulally. He promised a major upgrade not update by the end of July so I trust him to deliver.

 

[BethesdaEC]

It will be out July 31st 2359 hrs...LOL

That is the projected release date before the slippage. That should correspond to late August.

 

[Sgt1411]

I thought you could update the system without going to the dealership, through USB Flash Drives. Am I wrong?

Ya it's a little confusing but the owner applied USB updates you're referring to are smaller files kinda like "add ons" or "optional files". Kinda like downloading an App on your smartphone.

The dealer has to do anything major like an upgrade from v2.7 to v2.8 where the base image of the software is uninstalled and re-installed.

I think its more a case of Ford wanting their dealers to do it for control, as apposed to allowing owners to do it resulting in more complications then it's worth.

That said, almost everything with software thats sold today is usually owner upgradeable.

Perhaps one of the members here who works in the software business can better explain the rational.

 

[BethesdaEC]

Ya it's a little confusing but the owner applied USB updates you're referring to are smaller files kinda like "add ons" or "optional files". Kinda like downloading an App on your smartphone.

The dealer has to do anything major like an upgrade from v2.7 to v2.8 where the base image of the software is uninstalled and re-installed.

I think its more a case of Ford wanting their dealers to do it for control, as apposed to allowing owners to do it resulting in more complications then it's worth.

That said, almost everything with software thats sold today is usually owner upgradeable.

Perhaps one of the members here who works in the software business can better explain the rational.

In my opinion they screwed up the automatic upgrade portion of the program. Say you have 2.4 and you want to upgrade to 2.8. The 2.4 software has to be able recognize the upgrade and perform a sequence of operations before the new 2.8 version can be loaded. At the time they were pushing 2.4 out the door they were focused on getting the basic functionality to work and did not invest the time to verify that the future upgrade path would work properly. Having built self upgrading software it is very easy to get in a paradoxical situation where in order to upgrade properly you first need to upgrade. Since this is not possible, you need to have a tech go in and format the whole damn system and reinstall from scratching using some tool that the programmer developed for internal testing.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Are people imagining some sort of update (ala 2.4 to 2.7 to 2.8), or a serious, major overhaul/revamping of MFT? If the former then I'll say late summer/early fall. If people are expecting the latter, then I'll say its something they'll never see on a 2011 EX.

 

[RandyH2]

The natural extension to the question of when it will be released is, "When will those of us with problems be able to get ours updated?"

60,000 Explorers x .5 hrs = 30,000 hours labor. Wow! If there is a huge demand for the update the dealerships are going to be busy. And making some money. I don't know the labor rate but would guess it to be ~$100/hr. That's $3,000,000 in labor costs just for the install!

Personally- I'd look at that $3M estimate and think, "Tell me again why we can't let the owners do this themselves? Even with a 10% problem rate we would come out WAY ahead over paying for it ourselves."