Ford Plan Is Good for Traffic Data Firm

TechFlash reports: It didn't grab as much attention as Ford Motor Co.'s addition of Twitter support and a slick new dashboard screen, but the automaker's unveiling of its next-generation Sync in-car technology was particularly good news for traffic data provider Inrix Inc.

As part of the upgrade, Ford said it plans to make navigation standard on Sync-enabled vehicles. Inrix supplies navigation and traffic-related data to Ford, and it collects licensing fees from the automaker based on the number of vehicles in which its technology is used.

"They've been a great partner for us," said Bryan Mistele, the Inrix CEO, during an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Up until now, navigation was limited to a relatively small portion of Sync-enabled vehicles as more of a high-end feature. Alan Mulally, the Ford CEO and former Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief, touted the new Sync at CES Thursday.

The Ford system runs on Microsoft's automotive technology, allowing people to make hands-free calls and control media using voice commands, among other features. Inrix was founded based on predictive traffic technology licensed from Microsoft, although it has expanded significantly beyond that since then.

Also at the show, Inrix rolled out a new premium mobile traffic app and announced a significant addition of arterial road data in its service for monitoring and predicting traffic.