Really enjoyed the Ford’s Keynote at CES today. Too much to talk  about, really.  A couple of very quick notes:

1. It was fun to see Ford briefly mention the American Journey 2.0 project that I (and others at Microsoft) have been working with them and the University of Michigan on.    The design course is just getting started, and my colleague @DevarisPBrown, an Academic Developer Evangelist, gave the lecture today (and will again on Tuesday next week).  (Thanks Devaris!  Heard you rocked it! :) )
   
2. Also very excited to see Ford unveil their API to allow mobile apps to use SYNC for voice and touch interaction!  As Ford said in the keynote, this marks a very small beginning to a Ford developer network!  Although there may only be three companies in it today (Pandora, Stitcher, and OpenBeak), it’s a huge step for Ford and automotive computing generally. 
   
   There are still some questions about how Ford plans to manage their fledgling developer network.  A few questions that occurred to me: Can anyone join?  How do you get access to the API?  Are there SDKs for different environments, or merely an API specification?  Is there a certification process? 
   
   I will post with answers when I have them.  :)
   
   In the meantime, check out this short write-up and hands-on Pandora demo video from CES with Julius Marchwicki of Ford. 
   
   And if you’re really interested in automotive computing, also check out this good article on Gizmodo about the future of vehicle apps.  IMHO, Gizmodo does not capture the full story on the future of car apps, but the angles they do cover are well done.  In particular, one thing I think they get right is the automakers’ interest in enabling control of mobile device apps as a strategy to shield themselves from liability.