Update: Our friend Todd at TechFlash just posted a longer piece from the same event, in case you want to hear Ballmer and Mulally mulling over the future of cars and tech. (Hint: They will coexist profitably.)

Yes, this car will text your colleagues "b 15 m l8" next time you're running late.

Like Ford's Sync service, you can use Hughes' in-car tech platform, which is being pitched to car manufacturers on an OEM basis for inclusion in future vehicles, to do a lot of things with your voice, including respond to text messages (but only with canned SMS presets that are activated by spoken keywords). You can choose to respond in plain English, or with translations using a custom dictionary (here, apparently, set to illiterate 'tween). It can also translate any internet-isms it may find while it reads you your exchange email or calendars, too.

Hughes's demo vehicle was packed full of lots of other cool stuff, including an on-board 3G connection (with compatibility for WiMax down the road) that can be fed out via wi-fi to turn your car into a roaming hotspot. The only auto maker offering something like that right now is Chrysler with their UConnect service (not done by Hughes), but it's something we'd love to see more of.

Hughes is bringing some of its voice-activated telematics to Mercedes vehicles later this year (not including the mobile hotspot tech, sadly), but their demo jeep we saw today is a good example of what might come. [Hughes Telematics]

As you can see, it's pretty easy; the system calls up your paired Bluetooth phone and transmits all the data the sytem needs over the voice channel. Destinations are spoken aloud and read by the system; our demo was using prepared presets, so we couldn't give the voice recognition a full shakedown, but after Sync knows where you're going, the process seems incredibly smooth.

Soon, Sync will be able to use your phone's data plan and get its fingers in any mobile apps programmed with support for Sync's open control API, but for now, this is a pretty appealing addition that lets you ditch a dedicated NAV. It will be in every car Ford makes by 2011.

We were able to sit down with Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Director of Product and Biz-Dev for Electronics Douglas VanDagens to talk Sync's platform potential before Mulally's CES keynote tonight, and said open API for mobile developers to mate their apps with Sync is one of the more exciting things we heard. No timetable was given, but it's most definitely in the oven. Whether developers will take the bait and make their apps Sync-compatible, we'll see.

Also baking is the ability for Sync to detect a data connection on your phone if you have one, and then use it to pipe in even more content from just about any web source imaginable. Sync 3.0, unveiled yesterday, already added some awesome new features to an already terrifically polished system, but it sounds like there's even more goodness coming.

Sync has never tackled nav info, so it'll be interesting to see how this pans out. The traffic service will send you a text message with alerts along your route, which is then read aloud by the system. Ford reckons this will save you gas and time.

The turn-by-turn feature sounds great: say the name of a business, category of business or address and get turn by turn directions spoken to you. You can also call up the business found via your Bluetooth phone.

And better yet, your Sync settings and info is all saved to your phone, and can be used in any Sync vehicle you climb into, all the while keeping the grade-a iPod/iPhone/musicphone integration.

Pictured: Sync 1.0, via our friends at Jalopnik, who have more on the next-gen Sync as well.

NEW FORD SYNC FEATURES HELP DRIVERS SAVE TIME, FUEL WITH PERSONALIZED NEWS, TRAFFIC DETAILS

• SYNC with Traffic, Directions and Information provides personalized, real-time information to help drivers get to where they’re going with information they need. New services come with no monthly subscription fees for the first three years.
• Users’ customizations stay with their phone and can be used in other SYNC-equipped vehicles and can be upgraded free as new services are available.
• New features launch later this year on select 2010 models and will roll out across the entire Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury lineup by 2011.
• SYNC sales expected to top 1 million in 2009.

LAS VEGAS, JAN.7, 2009 – Ford is expanding its connectivity leadership by introducing exclusive new SYNC real-time information features that deliver personalized news updates to drivers’ mobile phones while helping them navigate around trouble spots, saving time and fuel.

“Our vision with SYNC is to be a leader in connectivity, making it affordable for millions – just as Ford has done with safety and fuel-saving technologies,” said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. “In less than 18 months since we launched SYNC, Ford has delivered two more major new features, and we have more in store.

“We are a car company that through market-driven, customer-focused innovation is learning to think and act like an electronics company, leveraging partnerships with fresh, innovative technology leaders,” added Mulally, who delivered the Consumer Electronics Show keynote address on Thursday.

The success of SYNC – the award-winning communications and entertainment system developed by Ford and Microsoft – continues to grow. Ford’s game-changing vehicle connectivity model and affordability have helped make it one of the widest technology introductions in the industry, launching on 12 vehicles simultaneously.

SYNC-equipped Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles sell nearly twice as fast as those without, and a Ford survey of SYNC customers showed nearly 80 percent of respondents “definitely would” recommend it to a friend.

Since the introduction of SYNC in the 2008 Ford Focus, Ford quickly has integrated the technology. By summer 2009, Ford’s entire North American lineup will offer this must-have technology, demonstrating its rapid, consumer-driven adoption. Ford expects to have 1 million SYNC-equipped vehicles on the road by the third quarter of 2009.

“We define connectivity as a way to keep people moving through their lives – not simply as an on-board computer,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas. “Our approach focuses on connecting people to the information they need, whenever and wherever they need it. These new features are aimed at enhancing the driver’s entire quality of life.”

Ford’s next-generation system – SYNC with Traffic, Directions and Information – leverages industry-leading voice-recognition software, integrated GPS technology and a customer’s Bluetooth-capable mobile phone. Debuting this spring, it will provide simple hands-free access to personalized traffic reports, precise turn-by-turn driving directions and up-to-date information including business listings, news, sports and weather.

The new services will be available on nearly all 2010 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models with no initial monthly subscription fees, thanks to three years of service included with a new vehicle purchase.

“Ford is unique because we continue to build on the power of the SYNC system that lets customers connect to off-board services through their own mobile devices,” said Doug VanDagens, director of Ford’s Connected Services Organization. “With that foundation, there is no limit to the data we can offer. Working with our partners – the best of the best in the technology world – we will continue to provide new services in a timeframe on par with the consumer electronics industry.”

According to 2008 year-end data, Smartphones were a clear consumer must-have, offering such advanced capabilities as a keyboard, Web browser and some PC-like functionality. Research findings suggest that growth in this industry is expected to continue at 40-percent year-over-year.

SYNC’s new suite of services allows customers the ability to integrate with off-board services and provide a personalized infotainment experience to the driver by utilizing the customer’s own phone. That powerful match is what differentiates SYNC in the marketplace and what will expand Ford’s connectivity leadership long-term.

“Today, Ford leads the industry leader in infotainment,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president of Global Product Development. “As we transform our vehicle lineup, we intend to continue making smart technology a key differentiator for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products.”

Ford is partnering with Microsoft and other recognized companies – INRIX, TeleNav, Tellme (a Microsoft subsidiary), M/A-COM and Airbiquity — to enable the new services to connect to real-time data.

“We’re excited to see Ford's great innovations developed on top of our Microsoft Auto platform that continue to improve how people spend time in their car,” says Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division.
“The combination of software and services, including the industry leading technology from Microsoft Auto and Tellme, are delivering entirely new voice-enabled experiences that make the time spent in the car more entertaining and more productive,” Bach added.

To take advantage of Traffic, Directions and Information, customers simply have to pair their Bluetooth-enabled phone with SYNC and activate the service via www.syncmyride.com.
Once that’s complete, the feature becomes “portable,” meaning customers can access the information in any Ford, Lincoln or Mercury vehicle equipped with SYNC and the Traffic, Directions and Information function.

TRAFFIC
SYNC’s new traffic feature will literally save drivers time and money by providing personalized traffic reports based on best-in-class content.

“We are able to provide traffic speed, flow and incident information to drivers in 95 markets nationwide,” said VanDagens. “In addition, drivers can personalize the system to alert them of changing road conditions.”

In a text message to the user’s device, drivers will get the location and severity of accidents or new road construction causing areas of heavy congestion. Users can personalize the system to send them an alert before they leave home or have SYNC read the text message in their vehicle.

“SYNC is working for you before you’re even out of bed,” VanDagens said. “That’s what we mean by a quality-of-life experience.”

DIRECTIONS
According to Telematics Research Group, Inc., navigation-enabled mobile phones are becoming consumers’ top choice for navigation services. This shift will open up new applications and services – and SYNC is positioned to take full advantage of this market shift using its powerful partnership network.

Drivers requesting directions now can use a variety of search criteria including a 14-million-plus business directory to find their destination, be it a favorite coffee shop or the location of a business meeting.

Turn-by-turn directions are downloaded to the vehicle and are spoken to the user over the vehicle’s audio system and displayed on the radio.

Like the new traffic service, directions incorporate real-time traffic information. Through a set of more conversational voice commands, the user need only speak the name, category or “nearest.”

The new directions service also offers users a choice of how they’d like to receive the information:
• Automatic connection to business telephone using the driver’s personal device;
• Turn-by-turn directions to the business location using the vehicle’s audio system; or
• Text message to user’s device with business listing and map.

Information
Another new feature of SYNC will help drivers’ personalize and categorize their favorite media topics, such as sports, weather and news using voice commands or through www.syncmyride.com.

Examples include:
• Personalized sports reports featuring scores and highlights for any professional or college team;
• Current weather conditions and forecasts based on city, state or zip-code; and
• News of all types – entertainment, business, top stories and technology.

“SYNC has been developed to allow users to create their own experiences,” said VanDagens. “Some people may wish to check their stock portfolios; others might want their hometown baseball scores. With SYNC’s unique architecture and the powerful Tellme voice service, there are no boundaries to the information users can access.”

New short-cuts added
SYNC has gotten smarter as well, and is providing a variety of new “short-cut” commands. Users recall comments such as, “Call Joe at work,” and, “Play artist ACDC.” New commands include, “traffic to work,” and, “directions to home.” Using the website, users can save a variety of locations such as home, office and airport – any location in the U.S.

These new capabilities are in addition to SYNC’s established hallmark suite of services, from hands-free, voice-activated cell phone, text messaging and digital media player integration to the more recent security and convenience additions of 911 Assist and Vehicle Health Report.

“We understand how important it is for customers to feel connected to their lives – even on the road,” Kuzak said. “Ford is committed to continue working with the top technology companies in the business to deliver even more of the features consumers really want.”

Or, if you want the quick and dirty, here's what unfurled in front of me, give or take a few guest presenters and some marketingspeak:

Ballmer comes out—my guess is he's smiling. He talks about the wonderful world of consumer electronics. He mentions this company called Microsoft. He also mentions the tough economic times we're all going to suffer through together. He will be optimistic, however.

He's going to talk about Windows 7. First, he'll announce the availability the Windows 7 Beta tomorrow for registered Microsoft beta peeps, January 9th for everybody else. He'll run through a lot of stuff we've already seen on Win 7, like DeviceStage, Homegroup networking, "Play To..." and other coolness like the Win 7 touch interface.

On the Windows Live front, he'll tell us that Windows Live Essentials is no longer in beta, and that you can now post photos on Facebook directly from Windows Live Photo Gallery, and save photos from Facebook directly to your Win gallery too. He'll also say that Windows Live Search and Essentials toolbar is gonna boot Google from Dell computers in February. Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless is going to implement Windows Live on VZW feature phones. IE8 is not out of beta yet, but it's coming.

For Windows Mobile, the big news, as presumed, will be full Adobe Flash support in the browser. (Sounds good to me, if only the browser was as good as, well, others.)

Ballmer is going to call Robbie Bach to the stage to talk about connected entertainment. Bach will start with some good Xbox stats—28 million worldwide, with 17 million active Windows Live members, and over a billion dollars spent on the service since inception.

Bach will introduce a number of sweet products:
• Windows Mobile app for managing Netflix queue
• Xbox Live community game builder called Kodu (already buzzed about)
• Windows Media Extender functionality in Toshiba products (announced earlier today)
• The latest edition of Ford Sync, which you can read about here
• Go back and forth on shows you didn't pre-record using Microsoft Media Room Anytime (I wonder what the advertiser stipulations are on that)
• Already known games Halo Wars and Halo 3: Orbital Drop Shock Trooper
• Xbox Live Primetime game 1 Vs 100 live gameshow coming in spring

What, no love for Zune? Almost everything's going according to plan so far, but stay tuned, because anything could happen. You know, come to think of it, Robbie Bach got to talk about a lot of the fun stuff. Is this the kickoff of the Ballmer Years? Or is it really the kickoff to the Bach Years? Steve would probably win at arm wrestling, but seeing the two of them on stage, I'm starting to think Bach could maybe take the bossman in a Cool Hand Luke-style a fist fight. [Full CES 2009 Coverage]