CES 2010: Ford plans to let drivers tweet from the road

A century after it first revolutionised the car industry, Ford plans to make its vehicles more hi-tech - by letting drivers listen to internet radio, conduct web searches and even send Twitter messages straight from the dashboard. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Ford chief executive Alan Mulally unveiled the next generation of Ford's in-car Sync entertainment system and said that it would be able to do everything they expected from a computer or mobile phone. "We are actually now bringing the internet to the car," he said. "We're going to bring all the applications you can get on mobile phones today, we'll bring in the car - absolutely hands-free, voice activated, and focused on the road – but you can get access to all your cool stuff." The system, called Sync MyTouch, is based around a pair of dashboard touchscreen computers that allow drivers and passengers to carry out a number of activities while they drive thanks to a wireless internet or 3G connection. The touch or voice activated systems can be synchronised with mobile handsets like the iPhone – they can use any one of hundreds of applications specifically designed for Sync, such as built-in satellite navigation and local search. The technology, which was developed in conjunction with Microsoft and was first unveiled in 2007, is currently only available in 12 of the company's north American models – but Mulally said new Sync modules would be integrated into 80% of the company's US cars within five years. Last year it said there were plans to launch the system in European models later in 2010, Despite concerns over safety, the company says that using Sync should be no more – as long as drivers to the same rules about using other in-car devices, such as satellite navigation systems and mobile phones. "The whole process of interface design is also more critical in a vehicle, because the driver is dealing with so many more inputs," said Ford vice president Derrick Kuzak. "We have to keep interfaces simple and intuitive. And they have to minimize driver distraction." The world's fourth-largest car maker says it hopes that providing extras like internet connectivity can help boost its fortunes as the American auto industry struggles to cope with the effects of the recession. Although Ford suffered substantially during the depths of the financial crisis – posting record losses of $14.6bn (£9.1bn) in 2008 – the company appears to be on the up. Unlike its Detroit rivals, General Motors and Chrysler, the company did not file for bankruptcy and $2.3bn (£1.4bn) in profit for the second quarter of 2009. Mulally said that improving the technology inside its cars was an important part of turning around the company and making it a leader once again. "We believe these features have a place in every Ford vehicle, not just our luxury models," he said. Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Motoring Gadgets Ford Mobile phones Telecoms Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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CES 2010: Ford plans to let drivers tweet from the road

Intel unveils "all new 2010" Core chips with on-processor graphics

Intel's Core chip family is getting a performance boost with the latest version of the company's 32nm manufacturing process If you're in the market for a personal computer, you should soon be ale to get one that's more powerful and works more smoothly, especially with Microsoft Windows 7. Intel has just announced what it calls an "all new 2010" Intel Core family of processors, with the move to new 32 nanometre fabrication processes. The new features include the ability to vary the speed of operation according to the workload, so when they are idling, the chips consume less power and generate less heat. Intel compared this to the human heart, which beats faster if you exercise and slows down when you rest. The Core i5 and Core i7 ranges also have a Turbo Boost feature that enables them to run faster than their rated speed

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Intel unveils "all new 2010" Core chips with on-processor graphics

Breakfast briefing: Big guns and small gadgets at CES, but Nexus One hit by multitouch mysteryh

• Fun and games at CES on Thursday, as the show's doors officially opened and everyone could get their hands on the gear. Intel showed off its new 32 nanometer chips, Dell paraded its ultra-thin laptop and Plastic Logic - which has long claimed that it would challenge Amazon and other electronic reader manufacturers - unveiled the Que (listen out for today's podcast for more). • After playing with the Nexus One for a few days, I thought it was only fair to share my thoughts on what the phone is like. Good, but not great. What could make it better for British users, however, is that the European version looks set to support multitouch . That's the same as the Droid, which is single touch in the US but, under the Milestone name in the EU, supports multitouch. The question of why that happens came up in the Google press conference on Tuesday, but Android boss Andy Rubin sort-of-deflected it at the time by saying it was "a software thing" and that they would "leave the option open". • Another company that's exhibiting at CES and we've discussed in the past is the social TV startup Boxee - which has finally launched its beta

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Breakfast briefing: Big guns and small gadgets at CES, but Nexus One hit by multitouch mysteryh

Hands on the world’s thinnest laptop, the Adamo XPS from Dell

I've been playing with a wide range of notebook PCs at CES, and Dell's Adamo XPS is not just the thinnest, it's one of the most innovative. Steve Ballmer did show it in his opening keynote, but he could have made much more of it… Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer ran quickly through a number of innovative Windows 7 PCs during his keynote , and one that got slightly more attention than most was Dell's Adamo XPS . This is billed as being the world's thinnest laptop, and at 9.9mm it's thinner than many mobile phones. It also has a very nice unlocking system, where you simply stroke the front of the lid so you can open it. Then, once you have opened it, it sits up, with the keyboard tilted at a more ergonomic typing angle. The Adamo XPS has an excellent 13.4 inch LED widescreen, which shows the now-almost-standard (for ultraportables) 1366 x 768 pixels. One of the interesting innovations is that the motherboard and 128GB solid-state drive are behind the screen, not beneath the keyboard

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Hands on the world's thinnest laptop, the Adamo XPS from Dell