Bill Pierre Ford

Ford Motor Co. plans to unveil a deal with Microsoft Corp this month that will put the software company’s technology into some of its cars.

The new technology will be called Sync. It includes a hands-free Bluetooth wireless system and an in-vehicle operating system that eventually will be an option for the entire Ford brand lineup, which allow hands-free mobile phone communication and other wireless information transfers in the car, including email and music downloads.
Ford and Microsoft have a history of collaboration, and the companies’ chairmen — Bill Gates at the software giant and the automaker’s Bill Ford Jr. — have developed a close working relationship in recent years. Last year, Microsoft donated $1 million to The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Bill Ford Jr. and Gates were on hand for that event, and they discussed ways in which software technology could be better integrated into automobiles in the future.