Jump to content

Inside info on MFT development


Recommended Posts

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=21495

 

Trying to get to the bottom of from whence the slowdown and voice control issues came, I spoke with one of my sources on the Sync team. They said that the issues with the system were well known in the group and to bear in mind that the system I received was several updates since the original release so was actually significantly improved.

 

They told me that at the root of the problem was that Ford decided to largely scrap their own codebase and hire BSQUARE Corp (BSQR) to recode the next generation of Sync. The move seemingly made sense. Ford already had a close partnership with Microsoft Corp. and BSQUARE was a company founded by ex-Microsoft employees with close ties to their former employer.

 

But the results Ford received were poor. Our source described BSQUARE's coding process as "Guy A sitting in room 1 writing code and guy B sitting in room 2 also writing code, with neither knowing what the other is doing."

 

Our source said that at the end of the day the resulting app was bloated and inefficient.

 

"Who would you say is to blame?" I asked. They replied, "I'd say 70 percent BSQUARE, but 30 percent Ford for choosing BSQUARE."

 

So that's the dirty little secret behind MyFord Touch and its issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting to hear something from an "inside" source but not surprising in the least. The fact that Ford hasn't come out, acknowledged the problems, and committed to fixing them is what really gets me.

 

For what it's worth, I'm going to start documenting everything wrong with my MFT system along with all of my interactions with my dealer so that I can use my state's Lemon Law, if Ford decides to hang us out to dry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The fact that Ford hasn't come out, acknowledged the problems, and committed to fixing them is what really gets me.

 

Huh? Ford has put out at least 4 updates in the last 6 months. Where is ANY evidence that Ford isn't committed to fixing these problems? I don't understand these comments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Huh? Ford has put out at least 4 updates in the last 6 months. Where is ANY evidence that Ford isn't committed to fixing these problems? I don't understand these comments.

I haven't received a letter from Ford. I haven't received an email from Ford. No phone calls, faxes, official statements, txt messages, etc, etc. And no, syncmyride.com did not tell me about any updates and continues to not tell me about the latest v2.8 update. Any information I have regarding anything about the MFT issues or updates that are available I have only because I put forth the effort and I took the information to my dealer and said "do this."

 

That is completely unacceptable after purchasing a >$40,000 vehicle that they damn well knew had a whole pile of MFT issues.

Edited by mrdave
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't received a letter from Ford. I haven't received an email from Ford. No phone calls, faxes, official statements, txt messages, etc, etc. And no, syncmyride.com did not tell me about any updates and continues to not tell me about the latest v2.8 update. Any information I have regarding anything about the MFT issues or updates that are available I have only because I put forth the effort and I took the information to my dealer and said "do this."

 

That is completely unacceptable after purchasing a >$40,000 vehicle that they damn well knew had a whole pile of MFT issues.

Ford is failing in the communication of the updates.

All though I did get one letter in 6 months. That was for v2.7

All other info about updates were found on this forum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

II just heard that MFT SYNC is being re written from scratch. I was speaking to a technician at the new york international auto show. this person stated that the first appearance of the new my ford touch/ sync would be in the 2013 refresh of the ford flex. my follow up question since we were standing in front of a edge sport, was how will they upgrade? as disheartening as the answer was, they said that much like you can't upgrade an old computer with current software, neither will you be able to upgrade to the improving technology of MFT on your "old" car....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't received a letter from Ford. I haven't received an email from Ford. No phone calls, faxes, official statements, txt messages, etc, etc. And no, syncmyride.com did not tell me about any updates and continues to not tell me about the latest v2.8 update. Any information I have regarding anything about the MFT issues or updates that are available I have only because I put forth the effort and I took the information to my dealer and said "do this."

 

That is completely unacceptable after purchasing a >$40,000 vehicle that they damn well knew had a whole pile of MFT issues.

 

I agree that syncmyride should have posted the updates. But the dealers know there is a new software release so anyone who is continuing to have problems and reports the problems to the dealer gets the new software. How is that different from any other known problem outside of a safety recall? If you have a problem you report it and if there is a fix available it gets applied.

 

None of that has any bearing on whether Ford is making valid attempts to fix the problems or not. Personally I'd rather have them spend their time fixing bugs than notifying customers.

 

Edit: especially when there are numerous examples of users who aren't having any problems or only very minor ones.

Edited by akirby
Link to comment
Share on other sites

II just heard that MFT SYNC is being re written from scratch. I was speaking to a technician at the new york international auto show. this person stated that the first appearance of the new my ford touch/ sync would be in the 2013 refresh of the ford flex. my follow up question since we were standing in front of a edge sport, was how will they upgrade? as disheartening as the answer was, they said that much like you can't upgrade an old computer with current software, neither will you be able to upgrade to the improving technology of MFT on your "old" car....

This is exactly what I'm concerned about. Ford knows they completely messed up our version of MFT and now they're focusing their efforts on getting it right the second time. So what incentive do they now have to put much time (money) into fixing our systems? A: Extremely little.

 

My guess is they'll push out a few updates here and there to make it look like they're "working on it" and get some people to stop complaining, but we'll probably be forced to live with a slow and buggy system in the end, since it's built on junk software to begin with. I can guarantee I am not going to let that happen since it's already going in for it's 2nd repair/upgrade next week, which means I only have two more to go before it's a Lemon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Edit: especially when there are numerous examples of users who aren't having any problems or only very minor ones.

I'd be willing to bet that the people that aren't having any issues either don't know enough about technology to know how it supposed to work or they are only using the very basic features and not doing anything "advanced" with it. Try to find me one technically inclined person who's happy with their MFT system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd be willing to bet that the people that aren't having any issues either don't know enough about technology to know how it supposed to work or they are only using the very basic features and not doing anything "advanced" with it. Try to find me one technically inclined person who's happy with their MFT system.

 

We've already done this once. There is an entire thread of people who aren't having problems. We aren't going to have that argument again.

 

You worry about yours and stop making accusations about other people. You don't drive their vehicle so you don't know what they are or are not seeing or doing.

 

When Ford stops putting out updates THEN you will have a valid argument. Right now all you can say is that your vehicle is having problems. Everything else is speculation and in most cases unwarranted.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

II just heard that MFT SYNC is being re written from scratch. I was speaking to a technician at the new york international auto show. this person stated that the first appearance of the new my ford touch/ sync would be in the 2013 refresh of the ford flex. my follow up question since we were standing in front of a edge sport, was how will they upgrade? as disheartening as the answer was, they said that much like you can't upgrade an old computer with current software, neither will you be able to upgrade to the improving technology of MFT on your "old" car....

I have to say that I would expect the 2013 to potentially offer more bells and whistles than the 2011 version does. This is the nature of selling technology products, if they sold the same thing for 5 years why would people keep buying it? But that said, if Ford decides to leave us behind with bugs or a poorly functioning interface I will remember that favor and buy accordingly going forward, and I'm a huge Ford fan and supporter. There is so much of this car that is integral with this MFT system it needs to be a working a solid system.

 

Of course I'm talking worst case. Right now I'm on 2.8 and while it's not 100% perfect I could probably live with how it is working now.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've already done this once. There is an entire thread of people who aren't having problems. We aren't going to have that argument again.

 

You worry about yours and stop making accusations about other people. You don't drive their vehicle so you don't know what they are or are not seeing or doing.

 

When Ford stops putting out updates THEN you will have a valid argument. Right now all you can say is that your vehicle is having problems. Everything else is speculation and in most cases unwarranted.

 

 

Thanks Kirby. I will stay out of this one. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to say that I would expect the 2013 to potentially offer more bells and whistles than the 2011 version does. This is the nature of selling technology products, if they sold the same thing for 5 years why would people keep buying it? But that said, if Ford decides to leave us behind with bugs or a poorly functioning interface I will remember that favor and buy accordingly going forward, and I'm a huge Ford fan and supporter. There is so much of this car that is integral with this MFT system it needs to be a working a solid system.

 

Of course I'm talking worst case. Right now I'm on 2.8 and while it's not 100% perfect I could probably live with how it is working now.

 

 

Yes, I agree, that's the nature of technology, nothing is future-proof. Processors will get speedier, and be able to compute more and more data, and that will lead to new improvements. I do hope to see a few more revisions of the current software, and hope that Ford follows through with its initial plan to offer "Apps" for MFT. If the few remaining bugs in my MFT were ironed out, I too could happily live it it day to day. My wish list is simple, a little improvement in the bluetooth connectivity to reduce the signal dropping, a quicker touch to action time, and little speed on the navigation (seems to be a few seconds slow) and a few seconds at 65MPH is a missed turn... Other than that, I do like MFT and cant wait to see where it goes in the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

II just heard that MFT SYNC is being re written from scratch. I was speaking to a technician at the new york international auto show. this person stated that the first appearance of the new my ford touch/ sync would be in the 2013 refresh of the ford flex. my follow up question since we were standing in front of a edge sport, was how will they upgrade? as disheartening as the answer was, they said that much like you can't upgrade an old computer with current software, neither will you be able to upgrade to the improving technology of MFT on your "old" car....

 

You've only got half the story right. The new-from-scratch (written by the real Microsoft this time) software will be backward compatible to older models and Ford will do an active campaign to update all existing vehicles. The 2013 Flex has the exact same hardware in it as a 2011 Edge.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You've only got half the story right. The new-from-scratch (written by the real Microsoft this time) software will be backward compatible to older models and Ford will do an active campaign to update all existing vehicles. The 2013 Flex has the exact same hardware in it as a 2011 Edge.

 

Thanks Waldo. That should stop at least part of the whining........

 

And no folks - Waldo is not going to tell you anything else about the 2013 Flex. Although I guess that does confirm there will be one........

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to say that I would expect the 2013 to potentially offer more bells and whistles than the 2011 version does. This is the nature of selling technology products, if they sold the same thing for 5 years why would people keep buying it? But that said, if Ford decides to leave us behind with bugs or a poorly functioning interface I will remember that favor and buy accordingly going forward, and I'm a huge Ford fan and supporter. There is so much of this car that is integral with this MFT system it needs to be a working a solid system.

 

Of course I'm talking worst case. Right now I'm on 2.8 and while it's not 100% perfect I could probably live with how it is working now.

 

Agreed. My next lease and the buyout of this current vehicle rest on its performance. Hopefully the early adopters will see a 3.0 written by Microsoft and continued support.

Edited by cal3thousand
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You've only got half the story right. The new-from-scratch (written by the real Microsoft this time) software will be backward compatible to older models and Ford will do an active campaign to update all existing vehicles. The 2013 Flex has the exact same hardware in it as a 2011 Edge.

Interesting, I really hope this is true. :beerchug:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You've only got half the story right. The new-from-scratch (written by the real Microsoft this time) software will be backward compatible to older models and Ford will do an active campaign to update all existing vehicles. The 2013 Flex has the exact same hardware in it as a 2011 Edge.

 

Waldo, thanks for sharing that man! That's great news.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Thanks Waldo. That should stop at least part of the whining........

 

And no folks - Waldo is not going to tell you anything else about the 2013 Flex. Although I guess that does confirm there will be one........

 

So WHEN will this happen? I will continue to keep whining until it is all fixed, thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So WHEN will this happen? I will continue to keep whining until it is all fixed, thank you!

 

Rumor is a new stable update due within the next 2 months and the fully rewritten version either at the end of this year or early next year - not clear yet. But if the next release really fixes the major problems then it won't be a big deal. If not then you certainly have a right to keep complaining.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rumor is a new stable update due within the next 2 months and the fully rewritten version either at the end of this year or early next year - not clear yet. But if the next release really fixes the major problems then it won't be a big deal. If not then you certainly have a right to keep complaining.

I'll continue to complain until my system is working. If the rumors are correct, by the time the stable version comes out, I would have been driving this defective car for over a year. I think Ford need to give me some kind of rebate for putting up with this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't blame anyone for being bitter about what has happened over the last several months. I acknowledge that Ford has pumped out several updates and they now are focused on the issue but its pretty stunning that problems of this magnitude were allowed to occur in the first place. Hopefully, there will be a stable update by the fall and we'll be able to use the car as originally intended. Given the upper end of many of their models will have the MFT system, they had no choice but to scramble.

 

Some of us lost the use of our cars for the better part of a month total with trips to the dealer(s), APN replacements, failed updates and the like.

 

For those of you that have had no problems or seemingly minor problems congrats. If you don't want to see venting then don't read the post...move on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't blame anyone for being bitter about what has happened over the last several months. I acknowledge that Ford has pumped out several updates and they now are focused on the issue but its pretty stunning that problems of this magnitude were allowed to occur in the first place. Hopefully, there will be a stable update by the fall and we'll be able to use the car as originally intended. Given the upper end of many of their models will have the MFT system, they had no choice but to scramble.

 

Some of us lost the use of our cars for the better part of a month total with trips to the dealer(s), APN replacements, failed updates and the like.

 

For those of you that have had no problems or seemingly minor problems congrats. If you don't want to see venting then don't read the post...move on.

I've had problems non stop but have been "blessed" to have had good experiences at my dealership's service.

I can understand the "fan boys" getting upset when we talk crap on their Ford.

It just took me a year on the forum to come to terms... fan boys just don't understand

 

I know my Ford Touch system SUCKS. I hope Ford realizes it SUCKS and fixes it soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had problems non stop but have been "blessed" to have had good experiences at my dealership's service.

I can understand the "fan boys" getting upset when we talk crap on their Ford.

It just took me a year on the forum to come to terms... fan boys just don't understand

 

I know my Ford Touch system SUCKS. I hope Ford realizes it SUCKS and fixes it soon.

 

I think they realize it sucks, but it's just taking a while for them to right the ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...