• Detroit Free Press, Wednesday, December 23, 2009 10:38 AM

As I peer longingly into the future, I see myself being chauffeured around town as dawn breaks in my 2011 Ford Fiesta even while I compile and write "Around the Net in Brand Marketing." How so?, you ask? Well, Brent Snavely reports this morning that the next-generation of Sync -- Ford's popular voice-controlled telecommunications and entertainment system -- will have the ability to turn any car into a Wi-Fi hotspot with no monthly fee.

Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally will reveal details about the Sync in his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, but some features have been released already. Another app called Follow-Me, for example, allows a car to track a car in front of it.

Sync, launched in 2007 with a one-time purchase price of $395, has enjoyed a 70% take rate. "With Wi-Fi hot spot ... and so on, you can imagine the kinds of things that are possible in the future," says Jim Buczkowski, Ford's director of global electronics systems. Holy cow! I could file directly from the mall!

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