I have not had any serious problems playing my iTunes media with SYNC MyFord Touch on our 2012 Ford Focus, except that sometimes the indexing seems to take longer than I'd like.  But I'm always game for a software update, so I tried downloading SYNC My iTunes from the SYNCmyride Support page. There is a version for Mac and one for PC. I tried the Mac one. It opened up without difficulty and modified my iTunes library items for optimized play on SYNC.  I didn't notice any big improvement in playing my iTunes library in the car, but it didn't crash it, either.  So I'll call it a qualified success and let you know if I detect any advantages to going through this process, other than the fun of doing so. 

On Monday, July 18, I had a chance to visit by Skype and phone with Dave Gersabeck, Ford's product manager for SYNC Services. He filled me in on the recently launched trial of Operator Assist, a new feature that adds the ability to connect with a live operator when you need one.  

I also asked Dave to explain some of the interaction between the onboard navigation system of my 2012 Ford Focus and the offboard nav resources offered with SYNC Services.  All in all, I learned a great deal and have even more appreciation for the range of information and services that I have within the sound of my voice while driving the Focus.

You'll find detailed information about the Operator Assist trial at the Owner-to-Owner forum on SyncMyRide.com. You'll need a username and password to participate and leave feedback.

Ford this week announced beta testing for a new Operator Assist feature for the cloud-based network of SYNC Services.  I gave it a try and am impressed with it.  When the normal SYNC Services automated system can't figure out where Dickson Brothers Hardware store is in Harvard Square, you can simply say "Operator" and within seconds you'll be talking to a human who is not driving, so she can safely mouse around looking for your information.  And if the operator finds what you're seeking, he or she can zap the directions to your navigation system on MyFord Touch, which is very cool. 

In another safety-related story, Ford made news by being the first automaker to back federal legislation banning use of handheld cell phones while driving. The cheeky gurus at the MarketFoolery podcast pointed out that this move makes very good business sense for Ford, because the legislation would allow hands-free systems like SYNC.  Chris Hill and the Fools also discussed the Active Park Assist technology, which we have in our 2012 Ford Focus, aka Henry.  I, too, think it's great, but I'm still getting the hang of using the system to parallel park on a crowded city street.

Two master resets in one week do not a happy 2012 Focus driver make.  So this episode is a mild-mannered rant modified with some self-doubt. Am I doing something wrong? How come Henry's SYNC MyFord Touch system is so unreliable? Even after I did a master reset on Tuesday, yesterday the clock went haywire, jumping around from one hour to the next on a random basis when I was trying to figure out if we were late for supper at my daughter's house. 

I didn't have time to include this comment from Allen MacDiarmid regarding my Navigation problems, so I'll post it here:

Len, I just finished listening to the podcast where you took over 4 minutes to get going on the Nav.  Was the engine running the whole time you were doing that?  Could you have come down and set it up without the engine running for a later departure?  On my Prius if I don't touch the brake when pushing the start button it goes into AUX mode, just like not turning the key all the way in an old fashioned car.  BTW, what kind of mileage did you get on your trip?

Al, I tried your suggestion, and it did work. I was able to go into AUX mode by pushing the start button without pressing my foot to the brake. So that might be an idea, to fire up the tech system before we plan to leave on a drive.  BTW, the best gas mileage we've seen on the Focus so far has been about 36 mpg, during our cross-country drive from Denver.  So I look askance at all of the touting Ford's doing of the 40-mpg highway performance.  I haven't seen it yet, even at sea level here in Boston.  My Denver dealer said the mileage is not so good at mile-high altitude.

I hope I'll have a more upbeat report for you next week!

As I was mousing around the Ford SyncMyRide forums I noticed a topic titled "Sirius Voice Command Update File" in the category "SYNC Announcements."  I'm always eager to update my computer equipment, so I downloaded the file to a thumb drive and took it out to Henry for the patch.  It didn't work the first time, and I'll tell you why so you don't make the same mistake. 

The text file didn't say what the patch fixed, and the SYNC agent I chatted with online may have had the wrong info when he said it was an update of SIRIUS's channel lineup.  Before the patch and afterward I had 141 channels, so no extra ones were added. I haven't had time yet to see if the order of the channels has changed somehow. Anyway, the update worked fine, whatever it did.

Also in this episode, I'll tell you how to interrupt the Voice Command woman any time you want to, which is especially handy when she goes on and on with commands you could have said if you hadn't made some boneheaded mistake by saying an incorrect command.  And you'll hear a little soothing crooning from a famous singer whose permission I don't have to use the clip on the podcast.

My wife Darlene has been highly critical of the GPS navigation system in our 2010 Ford Focus, part of the MyFord Touch technology.  I thought she was just refusing to give it a chance, and it drove me crazy when she'd place our old Garmin Nuvi device on the dashboard, just above the built-in touch screen.  But yesterday I was late to an appointment in Arlington, Mass., because it took so long for me to get the Ford system oriented with the GPS.  Today I did a head-to-head test of how long it took for the Nuvi to pull up a map to the destination, compared with the built-in navigation, using voice commands.  A later test using the touch screen instead of VR was inconclusive and actually took longer than the Voice Recognition, for reasons I won't go into because it was so frustrating.  In any event, listen in for this unscientific test of two ways to get from A to B. 

What's YOUR experience with the built-in navigation system, which is made by Xanavi? You can email me at PodChronicles AT gmail. 

During our brief stay in Dearborn Michigan this week, I had a chance to visit with Jim Buczkowski, a Henry Ford Technical Fellow and director of all things electric and electrical at Ford.  He spoke of the early days of the SYNC technology, how it's working now, and what's ahead. Fascinating stuff, straight from a 32-year Ford veteran who was there at the beginning. 

Click here for a handy list of smartphone apps for road trips like the one Darlene and I are on, from Denver to Boston.  It will take you to an episode of the New York Times Tech Talk Podcast. 

If you'd like to follow along with the non-tech side of our road trip across America, click here for my general blog. 

In this episode I explore the Vehicle Health Report made possible by the SYNC system in our 2012 Ford Focus, now named Henry. I was disappointed in the level of detail, but impressed at how the system could take real-time information from the car's running engine and, using my cell phone, transmit it via the Internet to a report viewable at SyncMyRide.com . 

I got some help understanding the process from a Sync Agent at the call center, and more by email from Alan Hall, Ford's communications manager for technology research and innovation. 

Also this week, I take a look at reports in the news that occasional glitches on the MyFordTouch screen are making folks at Ford uneasy, all the way to the top, as indicated by quotes in a Bloomberg story by CEO Alan Mulally. Consumer Reports continues to express concern about the MyFord Touch system's steep learning curve and how it can be confusing and distracting for new users. Point taken, but I still think this is a very promising system, and the more I learn about it the better I like it. 

Ask me in 2,000 miles if that's still the case.  Darlene and I leave tomorrow morning for our eastward migration to Cambridge, Massachusetts. I call it "Travels with Henry," and I'll let you know how it goes. 

This morning in Denver I recorded my thoughts about Active Park Assist, the most gee-whiz bit of tech on our 2012 Ford Focus.  It really is amazing to see the wheel spin one way and the other, expertly guiding the car into a parallel parking space.  But there turn out to be finer points to using this powerful tool, and I've made some rookie mistakes, none of them costly.

Click here for a video walk-through of Active Park Assist by Ali Jammoul, Ford's chassis chief engineer.

On the way home after the parking demo, the SYNC MyFord Touch system grabbed the touch screen for an apparent reset that I hadn't requested.  I pulled over into a bank parking lot to record what happened next.  Back home, I called the MyFord Touch call center at 888-270-1055 and was told that an update of the MFT software at the end of June might make these disconcerting episodes less frequent. I certainly hope so!

Thanks to George from Tulsa for sending along a great response to Bill Gates's alleged comments about how great a car would be if the auto indusry had kept up with technology as well as the computer industry.  Does Ford's SYNC MyFord Touch system have eerie similarities with the satiric view supposedly prepared in response to Gates by GM?  You be the judge...

Also, how to load a photo into your MyFord Touch system so it becomes the wallpaper for your touch scree and my plan to keep my fingers off the touch screen or my iPhone when we take a long trip next month, listening all the way to great podcasts.