Ford Partners with Automatic Labs on Car Monitoring Apps

Ford Motor Co. has launched an "experimental collaboration" with San Francisco-based Automatic Labs Inc. to develop vehicle monitoring services.

Last year Automatic began marketing a $100 device that provides smartphone users data culled through their vehicle's onboard diagnostic port. The unit can decipher check-engine codes, track fuel economy, receive tips to improve driving efficiency, locate the parked car, store travel data and make emergency responder calls in the event of a crash.

Ford and Automatic are collaborating to develop new features for customers with Sync-equipped Ford and Lincoln vehicles. Such apps will complement rather than replace Ford's troubled MyFord Touch control system.

The partnership's first product will enable iPhone users to access their phone's Siri personal assistant app by using the push-to-talk button on their vehicle's steering wheel.

Among other things, the link can be used to use Automatic's "if-this-then-that" channel, where visitors can create commands based on the actions of their vehicles. Examples would be turning off the house lights as you leave for work or sending a text to your significant other when you head back home.