A new infotainment system is coming to Ford and Lincoln vehicles later this year. Dubbed the Ford and Lincoln Digital Experience, it will let drivers stream videos, surf the web, and play video games from their cars.
Unveiled Monday, the new system debuts on the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus crossover SUV first shown last year. The Nautilus sports a dashboard-spanning 48.0-inch panoramic display, but other vehicles will get more conventional setups with smaller touchscreens and digital instrument instrument clusters.
Ford Digital Experience
Regardless of the screen, the Ford and Lincoln Digital Experience includes Google built-in apps, with Google Maps as the default navigation option and Google Assistant for voice control. But unlike rival General Motors, Ford is also retaining Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It's also including Amazon Alexa connectivity, with the option to use Alexa for voice control.
The Google partnership also includes Google Play Store integration, allowing drivers to download apps directly to their cars. Among the options are YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and PBS Kids for watching videos while parked; the Vivaldi web browser; and the racing video game Asphalt Nitro. This and other games can be played on the dashboard screen via a Bluetooth-enabled controller, again, while stationary.
Ford Digital Experience
The new system is backed by more robust hardware capable of more than five times faster main processing and 14 times faster graphics processing compared to Ford's current Sync 4 system. It also has four times the memory and eight times the storage of current Ford and Lincoln infotainment systems. Ford says it's also brought more of the software development in-house, which the automaker claims will allow it to develop new features and improvements more quickly. These can be pushed to cars via over-the-air (OTA) updates and a 5G connection.
Ford will announce which vehicles from its main brand will be the first to get the new Digital Experience at a later date. The Nautilus is expected to go on sale in the U.S. later this year with a starting price of around $51,000.
