SYNC Updated with 10,000 More Voice Commands

Ford SYNC, the in-car voice activation technology created by Microsoft is getting a big update – it now understands more than 10,000 voice commands. That’s up from 100 in the first generation of the product. 10,000, wow!

According to the news release, you can now tell the car anything from “Call John Smith” to “Find ice cream,” and it will know just what you mean. Ford engineers worked with voice tech company Nuance Communications in order to introduce all these new commands to the updated technology. And they did so in a way that allows drivers to speak more naturally to their cars, instead of having to memorize specific commands. (That’s a good thing, considering how many there are now!) So for example, you can say things like “warmer,” “increase temperature,” “temperature up,” and SYNC will know which function you’re requesting.

The voice upgrades will arrive in the next generation of SYNC which powers the driver connect technology, MyFord Touch. It launches later this year on the 2011 Ford Edge.

You can see the system in action here.