Ford Focus & Ford Fiesta
We're driving around the country in Ford Focus and Fiesta vehicles to test wireless networks nationwide. We picked up our cars at Ford's headquarters outside Detroit.
Charging the Phones
At our start point in Dearborn, we charged the phones for the first time.
Extra Power
The test software uses a lot of juice, so we brought a big bag of backup batteries from Sanyo, ZAGG and Energizer, as well as power inverters from Duracell.
Setting Up the Fiesta
Our test setup involves Velcro-ing a bunch of phones to wooden boards, plugging them into power adapters, and plugging all of that into the car. No passengers, please.
Ford SYNC in Fiesta
Our Ford Fiesta is equipped with the Ford SYNC system, which links the car with a phone (in our case, a Samsung Epic for Sprint) to make calls and play music.
MyFord Touch in Focus
Our Ford Focus is equipped with the more advanced MyFord Touch system, which adds a big touch screen, GPS navigation and an LCD next to the speedometer.
Jill Duffy with Ford Focus
Tester Jill Duffy gets ready to go in Dearborn, Michigan.
Testing Phones with Sensorly Software
The testing phones run software custom-designed by network testing firm Sensorly. Here they all are, laid out and running. The little green indicators show that they have GPS connections; the red block shows that they're trying to run a UDP test.