Ford ...

[calb]

.... this is what you need ...

http://www.qnx.com/solutions/industries/automotive/

Kick Microsoft to the curb already, and make the long-term move to a proper platform.

Please.

 

[13Sport]

.... this is what you need ...

http://www.qnx.com/solutions/industries/automotive/

Kick Microsoft to the curb already, and make the long-term move to a proper platform.

Please.

LOL QNX is owned by RIM, that's a company that is doing great things =P come on now. Microsoft isn't the problem, flash is. How many times do we need to visit this?

 

[nnichols]

QNX is well regarded. However, my gut feeling is that the problems we see are application issues and poorly optimized code.

Is Touch still Flash based? I thought there was a move away from it in the earlier revisions.

 

[calb]

I use my Blackberry 9900 a lot, and I have no issues, and certainly no issues with my Playbook either. I get what I want out of them.

Unfortunately the same can not be said of the Ford/Microsoft product in my Explorer.

QNX is a whole other story, and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't think they have a rock solid system - particularly in automotive.

If the choice is between Microsoft with Flash and QNX, I'll take QNX and HTML5 every day of the week.

 

[calb]

QNX is well regarded. However, my gut feeling is that the problems we see are application issues and poorly optimized code.

Is Touch still Flash based? I thought there was a move away from it in the earlier revisions.

I stand to be corrected, but my understanding is that it is still Flash based.

 

[nnichols]

I stand to be corrected, but my understanding is that it is still Flash based.

With the level of performance it exhibits, it wouldn't suprise me.

 

[13Sport]

If the choice is between Microsoft with Flash and QNX, I'll take QNX and HTML5 every day of the week.

But that's the problem.. it's not Microsoft.. the problem is Flash, that has nothing to do with Microsoft. That is Ford and Flash.

 

[13Sport]

I use my Blackberry 9900 a lot, and I have no issues, and certainly no issues with my Playbook either. I get what I want out of them.

I use windows embedded a LOT, and have no issues. Which is my point, you are throwing Microsoft in there, when it's unrelated to any of the issues w/ MFT. Ford chose to use Adobe Flash Lite as a platform, Ford is to blame, and Flash is to blame.

 

[boltsfan17]

It won't be too long until Apple starts making software for vehicles. They own many patents for in vehicle interfaces. Rumor is that it's in the works. Me personally, I would rather have a system by Apple. Say what you want about Apple, but they do make some great software.

If Ford would team up with Apple, they would leapfrog the competition. I'm sure it would boost sales as well based on the popularity of Apple.

 

[13Sport]

It won't be too long until Apple starts making software for vehicles. They own many patents for in vehicle interfaces. Rumor is that it's in the works. Me personally, I would rather have a system by Apple then something by Microsoft.

Ok, but you don't currently have an interface that is by Microsoft. You have an interface that is by Ford, and written using Flash. So it only makes sense if you say "I would rather have a system by Apple than something by Ford".

The OS is trivial here.

 

[boltsfan17]

Ok, but you don't currently have an interface that is by Microsoft. You have an interface that is by Ford, and written using Flash. So it only makes sense if you say "I would rather have a system by Apple than something by Ford".

The OS is trivial here.

You responded while I was editing my post.

I'm not saying the issue is Microsoft. I don't know who's decision it was to use Flash. I assume Microsoft provided the OS and Ford wrote the interface with Flash. I'm sure most will blame Microsoft, especially when they see the Sync powered by Microsoft logo in their vehicles.

Edit: I just did a little research. The current MFT is completely done by Ford. The earlier versions were done by both Microsoft and Ford. Ford ended their exclusive agreement with Microsoft in 2008. Funny thing is I have heard from many that the first version of MFT works better then the current version. So yes, you are right. The OS is trivial. This is a Ford issue.

My main point was that I would prefer something done by Apple for Ford.

 

[13Sport]

You responded while I was editing my post.

I've got moves like jagger

We've debated this before I believe, but Microsoft did play a big role in the MFT system. It just wasn't done by Ford.

Microsoft's role would have been device integration and drivers, which are not the issue with My Ford Touch. There are a few problems with various bluetooth device compatibility issues, but thats common with every vehicle on the market. Those could be blamed on MS (though device manufacturers are generally at fault).

The user interface was designed and developed by Ford and third party companies (I believe BSQUARE Corp being the largest of the development groups). The user interface is where all of the bugs, the performance issues, and the problems lie. Most everything wrong with My Ford Touch can be tracked back to its use of Flash, others are just incompetent development.

None of the issues are related to "Windows Automotive". They are all third party to Microsoft, yet people want to play the MS blue screen of death card. Believe me, I'm an Apple fan, I use MS products in very specific cases, but I am wholly behind their automotive platform.

As a comparison. I developed a flash application for my company. It ran in windows browsers (IE, Firefox, and Safari), mac browsers (Safari, Firefox), and even linux browsers. The problems that plagued the application were seen across all three platforms. Ultimately after 2 years of development we dumped flash in favor for Silverlight (we have even moved most of the application to HTML5 now, but Silverlight was decently stable). None of the issues with the application were related to the OS, or even the Browser, they were all related to Adobe Flash as a failed platform for large scale deployments.

 

[13Sport]

My main point was that I would prefer something done by Apple for Ford.

I can say that Apple makes great products, and would probably have some interesting things to lend to Automotive infotainment, however the first iPhone was plagued with performance issues, various design issues, and incompatibilities. Apple would be going through the same growing pains that MFT has been going through (though probably not to such a disastrous degree).

The only comment I have about that is, MS has well over a DECADE into automotive systems. They have already worked out all of the bugs w/ the interface between vehicle components and the OS. I think what Ford really needs is a great application development team that knows how to write native applications to take advantage of memory, cpu, and gpu performance that Flash just can't do. They tried to take a shortcut to get it out to the market, which is funny, most people pick flash because it's easily ported across platforms, ford seems to have picked it so they could get an application written quickly with animations. Flash was originally designed for animation (movies), it was never meant to be used for applications, it just evolved into that (to the detriment of My Ford Touch).

 

[boltsfan17]

I've got moves like jagger



Microsoft's role would have been device integration and drivers, which are not the issue with My Ford Touch. There are a few problems with various bluetooth device compatibility issues, but thats common with every vehicle on the market. Those could be blamed on MS (though device manufacturers are generally at fault).

The user interface was designed and developed by Ford and third party companies (I believe BSQUARE Corp being the largest of the development groups). The user interface is where all of the bugs, the performance issues, and the problems lie. Most everything wrong with My Ford Touch can be tracked back to its use of Flash, others are just incompetent development.

None of the issues are related to "Windows Automotive". They are all third party to Microsoft, yet people want to play the MS blue screen of death card. Believe me, I'm an Apple fan, I use MS products in very specific cases, but I am wholly behind their automotive platform.

As a comparison. I developed a flash application for my company. It ran in windows browsers (IE, Firefox, and Safari), mac browsers (Safari, Firefox), and even linux browsers. The problems that plagued the application were seen across all three platforms. Ultimately after 2 years of development we dumped flash in favor for Silverlight (we have even moved most of the application to HTML5 now, but Silverlight was decently stable). None of the issues with the application were related to the OS, or even the Browser, they were all related to Adobe Flash as a failed platform for large scale deployments.

Thanks for the insight. It really does baffle me why Ford continues to use Flash. Especially being that it's no longer made or supported. Maybe there is a new version in the works thats being made with HTML5. With so much on the line, you would have thought a much better version of MFT would be out by now. I'm sure the negativity towards MFT has turned away many potential buyers. Me being a big fan of Ford vehicles, I really want them to fix this. It's sad because they really are making some good quality cars and trucks, but they are taking a beating from the bugs with MFT.

 

[13Sport]

I found this thread, the first post is interesting (who knows if he really knows someone on the sync team, but it confirms my previous post about BSQUARE)

http://www.fordedgeforum.com/index.php?/topic/7332-inside-info-on-mft-development/#entry58659

 

[boltsfan17]

I can say that Apple makes great products, and would probably have some interesting things to lend to Automotive infotainment, however the first iPhone was plagued with performance issues, various design issues, and incompatibilities. Apple would be going through the same growing pains that MFT has been going through (though probably not to such a disastrous degree).

The only comment I have about that is, MS has well over a DECADE into automotive systems. They have already worked out all of the bugs w/ the interface between vehicle components and the OS. I think what Ford really needs is a great application development team that knows how to write native applications to take advantage of memory, cpu, and gpu performance that Flash just can't do. They tried to take a shortcut to get it out to the market, which is funny, most people pick flash because it's easily ported across platforms, ford seems to have picked it so they could get an application written quickly with animations. Flash was originally designed for animation (movies), it was never meant to be used for applications, it just evolved into that (to the detriment of My Ford Touch).

What issues were there with the design of the original iPhone? I never had any issues with the phone. My biggest complaint was the dreadful speed of AT&T's Edge network. Also, the fact you couldn't send MMS and not copy and paste was a bit ridiculous as well.

 

[boltsfan17]

I found this thread, the first post is interesting (who knows if he really knows someone on the sync team, but it confirms my previous post about BSQUARE)

http://www.fordedgeforum.com/index.php?/topic/7332-inside-info-on-mft-development/#entry58659

That's interesting. I assume BSQARE is no longer in the picture. Maybe Ford is starting over now as we speak trying to fix all these issues.

 

[13Sport]

What issues were there with the design of the original iPhone? I never had any issues with the phone. My biggest complaint was the dreadful speed of AT&T's Edge network. Also, the fact you couldn't send MMS and not copy and paste was a bit ridiculous as well.

It won't let me cut a link of the search, so here is a screenshot.
I searched 'iphone crash' and limited results to 2007-2008

Nobody seems to remember, because the 3G came out less than a year later, with more memory and LOTS of bug fixes. But I recall having tons of issues with the original iPhone. Almost every app (and at the time there were no third party apps yet) crashed on a regular basis.

 

[boltsfan17]

I never had frequent crashing issues with my phone. I believe it did freeze up a few times requiring a restart, but it wasn't on a regular basis.

 

[VinceL]

Ignore what used to be this post...