ASIA-PACIFIC – CHINA, FEBRUARY 8, 2013 – American automobile maker Ford has partnered with China’s leading search engine Baidu in hosting a 24-hour hackathon last January 27.
The hackathon kicked off a day before at 9AM, with more than 70 Baidu developers brainstorming ideas and coding to seek creative ways for cars to embrace social in the future. There were around 100 developers, working in teams and individually, pooling in safe and smart solutions that make use of Ford’s SYNC AppLink, a voice-activated platform which lets Ford owners use apps without touching their phones. A total of 26 in-car technologies were submitted during the hackathon – several of which, according to Ford, "could easily go into production".
Some of the apps featured music and facial recognition, no-touch text messaging and Weibo microblog posting. It was a two-option multiple choice quiz game ranking players against other drivers, created by female Baidu intern Gao Yuan, that won top prize at the Ford hackathon. She was given a ticket to attend the Mobile World Congress 2013, happening in Barcelona, Spain.
The ideas were judged by a panel that includes Dave Schoch, president of Ford Asia Pacific, and Ed Pleet, director for connected services at Ford Asia Pacific and Africa, and Europe.
