Neil McLaughlin

I agree that it is unlikely that any significant updates will be provided to users to install any time soon. There is just too much that can go wrong. If you compare it to Windows updates, Ford needs to engineer a way to update the system in smaller bits so that a failure does not take down the whole system. Better yet, if there is a failure, the MFT automatically "rolls back" the update to an earlier version. There is so much that can be done with this technology. Once wi-fi is more prevalent outside of home or office such as municipal broadband wi-fi, I would hope that Ford enables updates to be downloaded while the vehicle is in motion. Better yet, satellite downloads of updates that can be installed while vehicle is in motion. Reboots could be scheduled when vehicle is shut down for whatever time is required. We are used to this process with our PCs and Macs, why should our vehicles be different. Enough day-dreaming. Today I did try a new feature on the MFT. I cannot say whether this worked before because I never had the right cable until now for our iPod and iPhones. However, the video feature works perfectly using the video and audio inputs. With the iPod video player, you can switch back and forth between screen sizes and also fast forward/rewind. Sound quality through the Sony sound system is incredible. I watch part of Inception just for fun. Incredible surround sound with that feature selected. If only the Inception dream-makers could work with the Ford MFT engineers. Maybe in a hundred years.... By the way, v2.8 still working perfectly. No MS reboots, screen locks, BSODs, fuse pulls or any other issues noted on existing functionality.

On v2.8, no "Scheduled Maintenance" seen yet...at least not in the foreground. Someone else mentioned that Ford is trying to have these performed in the background while vehicle is not in operation. Regarding the Sync voice, I use the Advanced voice prompts and have not noticed this issue.

Yes. From my understanding, they are the same with the exception of the home screen logos and any additional vehicle features on the Lincoln. Best to check with a dealer tech for sure. You can check your configuraiton yourself by touching and holding three sensors at the same time. Kind of like Ctl - Alt - Del. Hold FM > Disc Eject > Tuner Right arrow at the same time to enter the config screens. Plenty of info there, speaker tests, etc, etc. Your vehicle was likely built before the mid-April(v2.8) update was released. Unless you have something wrong, the dealer might try to charge you to update to v2.8. Best to have a complaint of some sort. Most everyone does!! ;-) Unfortunately, I have seen forum posts where the dealer tried to charge even though there was a complaint. Hopefully, Ford shut down that greediness after reading the posts. Good luck...Let us know how it goes.

These stories are sad. I would lean toward the "incompetent" side of your argument. They don't know what they don't know. Anyway, call around to a few dealers and hopefully you can find one that distinguishes itself. This is a very interesting development though from a dealer service perspective. In the past one always assumed that dealer service departments were all the same and they were all trained to the same specs. Certainly that is not the case with MyFordTouch.

Mine was built at end of Oct. Upgraded to v2.4 in January. Still had minor bugs with Bluetooth. Most recent upgrade(v2.8) is proving very successful for Bluetooth(although still missing some functionality mentioned). Fortunately, no apparent issues though. As posted by others, I am also interested in the geeky technology. So, I am comfortable. However, I am sure there are millions of people who would not have the first clue how to use the web site, make USB updates, surf forums, etc, .etc. If I was one of them, I would also be thinking lemon law, etc. You should definitely find a dealer who knows what they're doing. I am fortunate to have found one where I live where the Service Manager is as geeky as me and is completely on top of this issue. He has trained the techs himself and loves to talk about the technology, including its weaknesses and potential.

Folks - A quick update to above. I have discovered another welcome improvement. While not exactly a solution to one of the missing functions above, this is a step in the right direction. On this v2.8, it is now possible to have one Bluetooth (both phone/media capable) device connected as phone and another similar Bluetooth (both phone/media capable)device connected as media player. This is a break-through. Although, the steps do require a re-pairing if the "favourite" phone is bumped when the second one is paired. Also, I have been interchanging back and forth between iPhone, iPod and Blackberry and no hiccups, freezing or system re-boots. Further, having another device(iPod) connected via USB at the same time and going back and forth between USB, Sirius, FM, Bluetooth media all working fine. Therefore, based at least on my results, I would suggest anyone with issues head to their nearest dealer that understands this system and get the update to v2.8. It should be free, especially if there are issues needing to be fixed.

Ford dealer updated my 2011 Edge MFT today to BT4T-14D544-BJ Gen v2.8. Install took a couple of hours. Successful result and confirmed install is now showing on Syncmyride website. The reason that I took it in was to fix a problem with Apple iPhone/iPods locking up the system when my Blackberry 9700 was also paired. Fortunately, since January update(v2.4), I have only pulled fuse 29 a couple of times. However, I have hit the Master Reset a few times to restart the Bluetooth device pairing process. Otherwise, all MFT functions have been working perfectly since January on the 2.4 release. Fortunately, after running through all functions tonight, not only is everything working fine but there are a few improvements. I am a fairly technical user and have tested every function including Navigation, Climate, Audio(with exception of video) and Phone. Here are the improvements noted thus far: - Bluetooth pairing of Blackberry and Apple devices in tandem works with no system locking(so far at least). - screen response time is quicker. - maybe it's all in my head but I think the screen fonts are clearer as well. - boot up time is faster when vehicle is started. - jumpy screen for back up camera is fixed. Functions still missing: - no ability to identify a specific Bluetooth device as either a phone or a media player or both. The feature would greatly help the current situation where a new phone pairing replaces the current phone when not desired. Also, if new phone has media player that only is needed and not the phone. - no ability to select between multiple, active paired Bluetooth devices for the same function(e.g. media player, phone, etc.) - I am in Canada. So, TDI still missing. I realize the first two missing items are very complex to develop but let's hope they are in the works. Anyone have information on future releases? Anyone else have results or improvements to report?

Yes, message arrive while driving. Without taking hands off wheel or eyes off road, using the wheel controls, a single click reads the message to you. Voice commands can be used to respond. I love it. Regarding Wilson's post with the iPhone, at least the iPhone can be used to tether(USB or BT) for internet access for the Sync. That is also very fun on long drives. I can't wait for the Blackberry to do that. Funny enough, I use the Bold for tethering to my PC and providing internet but for some reason, Sync still does not recognize it.

Just some good news for folks who were looking for this capability. Today, I downloaded the latest operating system for the Bold 9700. It is OS 6. To be sure, I deleted the phone from Bluetooth and then re-paired. On the Sync phone info, SMS now appears for the Bold. Someone sent me a test message and it works great. Sync interrupted the radio and since I had Text to Voice notification active, it advised me who the message was coming from and gave option to read the text message. Several other functions such as pre-written messages, forward, reply, etc. are avaiable. Way cool!!

You may be correct about the fees. Tethering is included in my particular plan.

Sure. Just set up your iPhone to tether internet. Then pair it to your Sync via BT. Then use the Bluetooth internet connection set up under Internet Connections to activate the tether from the MFT. Then, ensure that your MFT wi-fi is enabled and also configured to set up a wi-fi hotspot. You can choose whether you want wireless security enabled or not. The rest is set up from your wi-fi devices(e.g. iPod or laptops) in the normal wi-fi connection settings on these devices. Voila! Let me know if any of this is an issue and I can provide more detail.

That update is actually not an update at all. It is a system version checker that simply records the MFT software and other component version numbers and then uploads it to Syncmyride. Not unlike what you would see if you run the diagnostic command view the system from within the vehicle. If you want to see what it actually contains, before uploading back to syncmyride, open the new file that is created on the USB with your computer/XML/HTML viewer. Once you upload, the file disappears off the USB.

Yes, but if the BE or 2.4 update is not showing in syncmyride, I am not sure what you can do. If everything is working, wait until next update I guess. The most informative view of your system version level seems to come from the "View Confirmed Installations" link on the Sync history screen. It should look something like this below. I have only copied the history since the CU(confirmed uninstall) of the 2.3 version. At the time, this was a user-installed update. However, for some reason, it seems to be unavailable to people now. SYNC Download & Installation History for this vehicle This page lists the current status of SYNC applications and dates for the featured vehicle. Click here for more information about this table and the status abbreviations. Name Version Description Status Date BT4T-14D544-BE 2.4 SYNC GEN 2 IMAGE CI 1/5/2011 BT4T-14D544-BE 2.4 SYNC GEN 2 IMAGE CI 1/4/2011 BT4T-14D544-BE 2.4 SYNC GEN 2 IMAGE DFI 1/4/2011 BT4T-14D544-BE 2.4 SYNC GEN 2 IMAGE RFI 1/4/2011 BT4T-14D544-BD 2.3 SYNC GEN 2 IMAGE CU 1/4/2011

Definitely agree with Curly. Ensure the dealer has done many of them successfully. The MFT has been quite stable and fully functional since the 2.4 version was installed. The mobile internet with in-car wi-fi has been a real hit in my household. Although, it seems to only work with our iPhone 4 (via BT) and no other devices that we have tried. The only dodgy bit that I see continues to be pairing muliple BT devices. Further updates should include the ability to identify if a BT device should only be a phone or a media player or both. It should allow the user to choose to change the media player or the phone or just only connect the device for later use. It should also recognize if a device is NOT a phone such as an Apple iPod. Currently, with my system, if I have the Blackberry connected as phone on BT then I connect the iPod, it changes the phone also to the iPod. Further, if already connected to a "favourite" phone, it should not change the BT phone connection to a newly connected device, at least not before allowing the user the choice. I would expect that the above will be difficult. There are so many manufacturers and Bluetooth approaches. However, this is a leading edge(bleeding edge!) system and the developers certainly should be up to the challenge based upon their eventual success with v. 2.4.

Can you go to the syncmyride website and cut and paste your install history from the "Confirmed Installations" link? It would be interesting to see if you are on v. 2.4 and also whether the update code ends in BD or if a DA appears.