Big news out of Dearborn; the Blue Oval will be adding buttons to its MyFord Touch infotainment system, but they won’t be getting rid of the maligned touchscreen system entirely.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Ford will be adding more buttons and knobs as vehicles get refreshed or redesigned, and move away from the near-exclusively touchscreen based interface. While Ford claims that consumers are overwhelmingly happy with the system, the automotive press has been resoundingly negative.

While MFT has improved in the years since it was introduced, it’s far from perfect. Ford has also been forced to add a full suite of tactile controls on versions of the F-Series pickup, as customers wearing work gloves were unable to use the touchscreen controls.

Apple just announced a bunch of new stuff today as part of their annual developers conference. Most TTAC readers don’t really care that iOS7 is ditching the old skeuomorphic look (fake brushed metal, fake leather, etc.) for a flat design that is damn near identical to what Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows 8 have been doing. However, they’ll care about this.

Apple has announced “iOS in the Car” (TheVerge has a summary; see also Cnet, Engadget, Gizmodo). Apple didn’t say much, beyond a a few pretty screenshots and a list of car manufacturers who will support this in 2014. We don’t know if this will be an Apple-proprietary protocol or if it will be an open standard that Android and other phones can use. Regardless, we can expect non-Apple phones to be hacked in one way or another to work with this, assuming they’re willing to do battle with Apple’s patent portfolio.

This is a big deal. For the first time, we have car manufacturers conceding a significant part of the driver’s user experience to a device or company outside of their control. For example, if you buy the most alpha nerd car available today, a Tesla Model S with its monstrous 17″ touch screen, you have well-integrated Tesla-skinned Slacker and TuneIn Internet radio, complete with a secondary display of the current song next to your speedometer. Would you prefer Pandora or Google Music? Sorry, you’ll have to stream that through your phone, which won’t be anywhere near the same slick experience. In Apple’s new world order, your car is an accessory to your phone, which is exactly the way it should be. Many people replace their phones every time their two year contract comes up for renewal and some replace it even more often. Conversely, most any modern car should handily last ten years or more with the right tender loving care. You can go through five generations of phones in the same time that you go through a single car. Your phone keeps getting better and your car (generally speaking) doesn’t. Furthermore, as I go from my personal car to a rental car to whatever else (a taxi?), I get to take “my” navigation system and “my” music along for the ride, rather than learning my way around yet another car manufacturer’s dial that spins, clicks, slides, and otherwise goes out of its way to annoy the driver.

I’d previously been skeptical that something like this would ever come to pass. Why would a car manufacturer willingly allow themselves to be commoditized like this? Why would they willingly give up the chance to upsell their customers on monthly service charges? In the new world order, a third-party app installed on your phone could use the built-in accelerometer and GPS to figure out that you decelerated in a big hurry and probably had an accident, just like GM OnStar and other such manufacturer-provided subscription services do. Would you rather have that service attached to your car or to your phone? I’d vote for the phone, since it would be with me regardless of what car I happened to be in.

If I were king for a day, I’d not only push for the phone/car video interface to be standardized, but I’d also push for the car to provide specific sensors and data to the phone. For example, the car might feed your phone telemetry data (wheel angle, speedometer, tachometer, etc.), which can aid a navigation system that temporarily looses contact with the GPS satellites, or give you great feedback on your hot track laps. They might even consider providing deeper manufacturer-specific hooks to allow for over-the-air software updates. At that point, some interesting security threats rear their ugly heads, since the phone needs to be treated as a potentially hostile component within the otherwise-friendly world of the in-car network. Still, color me excited. I’ve wanted this for a long time.

The UConnect system used on everything from Jeep Grand Cherokee to the Dodge Dart to the Chrysler 300, is one of the better infotainment systems on the market. But the 8.4 inch screen is getting a companion with a smaller 5-inch screen, that will run on an entirely different operating system.

Dubbed UConnect 5.0, the Microsoft-based system system uses a 5 inch screen that can support multiple devices like tablets and media players. Like UConnect, it will also support navigation, but it will use a TomTom system rather than the Garmin software used in the larger UConnect.

The smaller UConnect has been installed on the Fiat 500L in Europe since last year, but Automotive News reports that it will now be installed on lower trim levels of the Ram 1500. Microsoft is claiming that further vehicles will receive the system, but Chrysler has declined to comment on the matter. Having enjoyed largely positive press regarding UConnect, Chrysler could be putting itself in a tough spot if the Micrsoft based system doesn’t live up to the same standards as its QNX-based big brother.

In the endless rush to attract younger buyers, luxury car brands may have ended up alienating their traditional customer base – older buyers, specifically those old enough to collect social security – by implementing complex, technologically advanced features like touch screens and complicated infotainment systems. What if there were a way to opt-out?

Larry Vellequette of Automotive News has jokingly suggested a “Luddite” trim package for older buyers, which pairs traditional knobs and buttons with comfortable seating options. It may be a semi-satirical idea, but I am sure that plenty of older buyers would take well to it. I know of a few instances where older buyers have gone for the car that offers the least technology, even if it meant forsaking the brands they were traditionally loyal to.

That has meant traditional customers of Lincoln and Cadillac have shifted over to something like a Lexus ES350, because they found CUE or MyLincoln Touch to be too much of a burden. Bear in mind that these are the sort of people who find sending an email to be a great technological feat, and it’s not hard to understand their reluctance in embracing in-car computerization.

Vellequette notes that the resistance to touchscreens and their ilk is ultimately a futile pursuit. It’s also true that this demographic is literally a dying one, and the future of these brands will be with those who are technologically savvy. On the other hand, those with the means to buy new cars tend to be older. Perhaps the solution would be the ultimate automotive tech cliche – an iPad-like interface with a simple menu and easily recognizable icons. Though I’m not a “Mac Guy”, Apple products like the iPad and iPod seem to click with older users, with a minimum of futzing around required to operate them.

Ford will be giving away its SYNC AppLink to any automaker or Tier 1 supplier, as it looks to make SYNC the standard for in-car connectivity systems.

By opening up the SYNC API (or Application Programming Interface) to other parties, Ford is hoping to ensure that SYNC becomes the dominant system, similar to how Google’s Android has entrenched itself as the leading mobile OS.

Wired Magazine’s Damon Lavrinc adroitly explains the significance of Ford’s announcement, and the impact it will have on the future of in-car infotainment

Every automaker features a different consumer-facing platform, so developers must work with a variety of APIs and SDKs[software development kits]. It’s annoying but doable for a massive outfit like Pandora, but damn near impossible for small developers. That’s where AppLink comes in. By offering AppLink to any automaker or Tier 1 supplier (the folks who build the hardware) and providing a universal API and SDK, Ford expands an app’s footprint across the industry and brings more developers into the Ford fold.

Of course, there are drawbacks; auto makers would have to cede control, moving from the systems they’ve spent time and money on, to one created by Ford. Bringing a competitor’s product into another OEM’s vehicle could also present a problem if an infotainment system has to have connectivity with something like a vehicle diagnostic system – as Lavrinc points out, that’s a boundary that no OEM is willing to tamper with.

On the other hand, there’s the less open approach that GM is taking, whereby it is making an SDK available for anyone interested in designing apps. This is more akin to Apple’s iOS system, and affords GM more control

Ford’s revised F-Series Super Duty was announced today, and aside from the giant chrome grille, the big news here is a revamped MyFord Touch system – now available with knobs and buttons in addition to the touch screen.

Gone are the haptic controls used on Ford passenger cars with MyFord Touch, replaced by the stack of buttons mounted just below the LCD screen. Ford says that truck owners often wear their work gloves while using the car’s stereo or HVAC controls, and the physical pieces were a necessity. Anyone with a touchscreen smartphone knows that texting with gloves on is generally a non-starter, and the same goes for MyFord Touch. Automotive News reports that only the Super Duty will get physical controls. No other Ford vehicle, not even the F-150, will be available with both MyFord Touch and non-haptic controls.

We’re pretty positive that Ford owners and potential customers who don’t wear work gloves would really like to do away with the current iteration of MyFord Touch and adopt the one used in the Super Duty. Ford has endured a number of complaints from both customers and outlets like Consumer Reports and J.D. Power, who measure vehicle quality and reliability. If anything, the sheer annoyance of using the system would be enough to deter me from getting a higher trim level Ford – and it would be hard to imagine truck buyers getting to enthusiastic about a complicated touch interface when the current setup works just fine.

Ford is showing its fealty to the machines putting its money where its mouth is regarding telematics systems by unveiling their new B-MAX MPV at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress, a week before the Geneva Auto Show begins.

The B-MAX is also expected to show off some of Ford’s newest in-car mobile technologies (which have not yet been announced to the press). Bill Ford, the company’s chairman, will deliver a keynote address on the future of mobility as well as the role that mobile technology will play in the automobile’s future. The move is not without precedent for Ford, as the company unveiled their Focus EV at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which overlapped with the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Ford’s new habit of unveiling cars at electronics shows is something to look out for – don’t be surprised if other OEMs start copying the Blue Oval as they look for greater exposure for their new product. The car is not necessarily the star of an automaker’s lineup, and if major tech companies like Microsoft are on board, then launching a new car at a geek show, rather than an auto show, might be the way of the future for OEMs with major tech tie-ups – especially when their partner is launching a brand new mobile platform.

As lifetime President of the “Auxillary Cable Fan Club”, it saddens me to see that Ford’s annoying system will be standard on the 2013 Flex and 2013 Gamechanger Fusion, with Ford boasting that over 4 million vehicles have had SYNC installed since 2007.

My latest annoyance with SYNC came yesterday with the 2012 Lincoln Navigator (yes, it still exists). SYNC did not allow my passenger to pair their phone while the vehicle was in motion – ostensibly this is to cut down on driver distraction and any potential liabilities, but pulling over to a stop in rush hour is not possible, especially with “no standing” by-laws that prohibit idling in curb lanes. Pairing phones at traffic lights wasn’t an option either, was the system took longer to pair than the length of a red line, and as soon as the vehicle is rolling, SYNC automatically cancels the pairing. Oh yeah, the iPod integration sucks too.

Amid the cries of shock around the blogosphere at the sudden death of the Kia Borrego, another tidbit of more consequential Kia news remains undercovered. And it’s actually bigger Ford news than anything else. Ford had deal with Microsoft for exclusive access to the technology underlying its Sync system. But with Ford’s 18 month term of exclusivity expired, Kia is set to formally announce its Sync-alike at next Tuesday’s International Consumer Electronics Show. Shooting for the middle ground between Ford’s apt “Sync” brand name and Fiat’s asinine “Blue&Me” moniker, Kia has called the system “Uvo” (Short for “Your Voice,” believe it or not).

It’s no surprise to see Microsoft’s technology appearing in Korean cars, but the fact that Hyundai group is gracing its Kia brand with the technology is a bit unexpected. According to Automotive News [sub], no plans have been announced for Uvo to appear in Hyundai-branded cars. By placing a technology that Ford swears has saved its sales bacon in cars branded with its value marque, Hyundai is going for Ford’s value-proposition jugular. Sure, Microsoft and Kia insist that Uvo will be distinct from Sync, but the differences are likely to be cosmetic at best. Uvo will debut sometime in 2010 on “an unnamed Kia vehicle,” probably the Amanti-replacing Cadenza, which is rumored to launch later next year. Here’s hoping Kia markets Uvo as an entertainment system, instead of spuriously pushing it as a “safety feature.”