Ford To Offer HD Radio In Vehicles With iTunes Tagging

It used to be that if you wanted the latest in electronics inside your car you would be looking to the aftermarket for things like Bluetooth, iTunes tagging, and MP3 playback. Today many of the new vehicles cruising the streets have a myriad of electronics built right in. Ford has announced today that it has become the first automotive maker to offer HD Radio in its lineup with iTunes tagging.

The new technology will be available in several Ford models starting next year. The HD receiver will be added to the standard AM/FM tuner in Ford vehicles. The addition means that 2010 Ford vehicles will have HD Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, and Ford Sync technology built-in from the factory. The new HD tuner with iTunes tagging will allow up to 100 tags to be stored on the SYNC system until the iPod is connected to download the metadata from the car or truck.

When the iPod is later synced with iTunes the tagged tracks for the Ford vehicle can be purchased directly over iTunes. The radio has a tag button on the front for tagging songs as they play on the radio. All HD-enabled receivers in Ford vehicles will display metadata as songs play. The new HD radios also support HD2 and HD3 channels as well.