Ask people for their opinion on Ford Sync, the company's in-car connectivity system, and you'll be met with split reactions — user friendliness is particularly important when you need to keep your eyes on the road, and Sync's voice recognition hasn't won everyone over. A tepid response from drivers could be why it's taken Ford five years to install Sync in five million vehicles, but the fact that the system doesn't come as a standard option in the manufacturer's full range — Ford claims that Sync is installed of 70 percent of its cars "in general" — no doubt contributed to that sluggish growth. Still, Ford and Microsoft have seen fit to celebrate the milestone while promising improvements to the platform along with the rise of "intelligent vehicles." Whatever reservations you may have, Sync was among the first media integration platforms that are now found on virtually every carmaker globally. The latest-generation systems are starting to make use of cloud storage, cellular networks, and a variety of sensors to augment the driving experience — and hopefully they'll continue to get easier to use along the way.