Ford / Bug Labs partnership makes SYNC look like old news

It's a big day for the forward-thinking folks at Ford. Over in Frankfurt, the American auto giant showcased electric bike and cloud car concepts, and several timezones away at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, the company talked up its new partnership with Bug Labs. The result is OpenXC, a platform that promises to deliver increased integration for third-party software and hardware, like new audio interfaces, safety products and environmental sensors, plugged into Bugs' hardware and software modules. According to Ford, OpenXC makes developing for Ford vehicles far simpler than before, while lowering the cost and installation difficulty for car owners interested in adding on to their vehicles.