Goodbye MFT

[Sgt1411]

Is Ford still considering modifying the Explorer's center stack to provide more buttons/switches/dials?

No one has seen any design as of yet but the speculation is that we will see the return of hard buttons similar to what has been released on the 2015 F150 and Mustang with My Ford Touch.

Likely we will see it on the 2016 model year with that being the refresh of the current generation Explorer.

 

[peterk9]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ford-gives-turning-cars-smartphones-170533270.html

But it seems people have no patience for touchscreens when a simple knob will do. Raj Nair, head of global product development, tells the Wall Street Journal that knobs and buttons will return to the dashboards of new Fords for functions like tuning the radio and changing the volume.

The 2011 Limited I had did have a knob for volume control as well as the steering wheel toggle.

Peter

 

[nitzer51]

Maybe this is the millennial or tech geek in me, but I love my capacitative buttons on my ex.

1. Hell of a lot easier to clean. I just wipe it down.
2. Looks way more modern/sleek with clean dash lines
3. I use the voice commands for pretty much everything.

I think ford ran into a problem where they didn't look at their demographics. Young guys like me probably have no issue w the touch screen and touch buttons but ford didn't do a good job of introing the system to customers and their market demographic for the explorer.

Perhaps if they had more customer training (similar to apples set up when you buy an apple product) customers would have understood the full capabilities of their system and would not have had such a negative reaction (let's put aside that the first version of mft did suck).

That's just my take and I think when ford sees that QNX is way more stable they will reduce the amount of physical buttons again.

 

[broken strut]

I agree. I don't have any problems with the way the current system works. Not sure what the problem is. Everything works perfect for me. The fixed the only problem I had. Emergency button. the recessed button works awesome.

 

[Sgt1411]

I tend to agree with what you guys are saying but Im not sure if either of you had to experience the very early stages of MFT when the 2011 MY was released.

MFT was absolutely unusable in some customers vehicles, to the point of being dangerous.

I mean this literally with situations where owners were in very hot conditions with children in the vehicle and the A/C controls through MFT are not available. So your in the middle of the freeway do you just stop and relax on the side of the Freeway or drive to the nearest dealership? Better yet don't go anywhere in your $40-$50K Explorer because you cant trust the reliability of the MFT system.

A navigation system that in the middle of a route would just shut down and system would re-boot for 5 minutes. I experienced this in an area of Nevada at night where I was not familiar with the surroundings. So I pulled out my cell to use Google Maps but there was intermittent cell coverage. Now what.....navigation by the stars?......I didnt read that in the marketing material at the MFT seminar.

You would touch the screen and nothing would happen so you touch it a couple more times and still nothing, then all of a sudden it would receive all three touches at once.

In 2011 it was completely unusable and it took pretty much two years to become usable.

Not everyone experienced this but the majority did.

Thats why the IVT had a wholesale change of leadership after that and only then did things slowly change.

 

[trysixty]

It really means Ford knows it can not "fix" the present system. To save face they are keeping MFT, but getting some of the heat off their back. Those of us stuck with this generation MFT/Sync are about done getting any support or upgrades as soon as the "new" hybrid system comes out. We are stuck, and resale/trade value of the present vehicle will surely suffer. Last time Ford fools me !

+1

worthless POS :exp:

 

[Lewisra]

+1

worthless POS :exp:

My Explorer is awesome, especially MFT, especially with v3.7.

 

[peterk9]

+1

:bsnicker: worthless POS

Peter

 

[Sgt1411]

Oh no.......they are still at it.......someone figure out how we stop this development.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/microso...ainment-prepares-to-rival-apples-carplay.html

 

[xM]

My Explorer is awesome, especially MFT, especially with v3.7.

You already have 3.7 with navigation?

 

[13Sport]

Oh no.......they are still at it.......someone figure out how we stop this development.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/microso...ainment-prepares-to-rival-apples-carplay.html

Why? It looks unintuitive and feature packed. I like the interface too. If MS had written My Ford Touch instead of Ford cutting corners to save money, then you'd probably not have this same sentiment. Microsoft doesn't have anything to do w/ the disaster that is called MFT.

You say they are still at it, but they were at it before anyone else was. Microsoft had the first mainstream in-car infotainment system. I had a clarion Auto PC built on Microsoft Auto PC back in 1999. I stand by their experience and knowledge in the automotive industry. Ford has ruined their reputation in that respect, and they have no recourse. Ford chose to not let MS build out the interface, and instead hired a 3rd party company who built everything on Flash. We are where we are with MFT because of Ford.

 

[xM]

3rd party company who built everything on Flash

OMG *facepalm*

 

[Sgt1411]

Why? It looks unintuitive and feature packed. I like the interface too. If MS had written My Ford Touch instead of Ford cutting corners to save money, then you'd probably not have this same sentiment. Microsoft doesn't have anything to do w/ the disaster that is called MFT.

You say they are still at it, but they were at it before anyone else was. Microsoft had the first mainstream in-car infotainment system. I had a clarion Auto PC built on Microsoft Auto PC back in 1999. I stand by their experience and knowledge in the automotive industry. Ford has ruined their reputation in that respect, and they have no recourse. Ford chose to not let MS build out the interface, and instead hired a 3rd party company who built everything on Flash. We are where we are with MFT because of Ford.

I can't argue the technical specs or functionality of the Microsoft mobile product. You are far more knowledgeable in that area then I am.

I kinda look at the Microsoft mobile product like a Windows phone, MS can release a new phone every 6 months and it can be feature rich, yet no one cares, no one lines up to buy it.

I just don't see a line up of OEM's trying to put this new Microsoft version of CarPlay in their vehicles.

My comments are based on feedback from various insiders who, for sometime now, have been very enthusiastic that MFT is moving in a new direction that doesn't include the Microsoft product.

I guess the next version of MFT will be the only way to evaluate whether or not the move was successful.

 

[Sgt1411]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140409/AUTO0102/304090034

 

[broken strut]

Good news. Something to look forward to.

 

[dco43054]

I doubt this will be the case, but I really hope whatever improved operating system will be backwardly compatible.

It is the only thing I dislike about my '11 Explorer. I've been driving Explorers exclusively since '97. If they don't get MFT fixed, I will likely buy something different next time.

MFT is a POS.

 

[peterk9]

Here is another article on Blackberry QNX

http://www.thestar.com/business/tec...y_qnx_ditches_microsoft_for_sync_sources.html


For the record, I had no problems with MFT nor have I had any with MLT so far. Works great.

Peter

 

[Rubberhead]

From the article:

The automaker could easily update the software of those vehicles already equipped with SYNC to the BlackBerry software.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140409/AUTO0102/304090034#ixzz2ysrh4LaE

 

[ieee_raider]

This "source" indicates that current models will be able to upgrade:
http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1090519_ford-drops-microsoft-will-build-next-infotainment-systems-using-blackberry-wait-what

 

[Sgt1411]

More on the QNX transition from the NY Auto Show

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...c-Ford-could-replace-troublesome-MyFord-Touch