ROAD GEAR

OEM update: Ford introduced the AppLink feature for its Sync system at CES 3 years ago — and only a handful of apps for the platform since then. This year, Ford released almost a dozen new AppLink apps for everything from USA Today to Rhapsody to BeCouply, which allows “users to discover great date ideas.” (Alrighty then....) 

Meanwhile, crosstown Motown rival GM also debuted a smattering of new apps for its MyLink system. But the trickle of in-car apps could soon turn into a torrent since Ford and GM announced at CES that both are opening up their APIs and dashboard to outside developers in the same way that Apple and Google opened their platforms and created the current app avalanche. Ford even went a step further by announcing that it’s making Sync AppLink available to any automaker that wants to use it. The goal of this gambit is to create a large, Android-like, open-source app platform for the car and hopefully entice developers to devote more attention to space rather than having to hassle with creating separate apps for each automaker’s proprietary platform. But we’ll have to wait to see if any competitor carmakers take Ford up on the offer.

Until then, happy motoring, listening, and hands-free accessing!