Kia Announces Voice-Activated Microsoft Media System

&&&&&EMBEDDED_ELEMENT_START&&&&& {“id”:1420668667924,”originalName”:”2015_03_04_17_01_16_520_http___blogs_cars_com__a_6a00d83451b3c669e20120a7a7c94f970b_800wi”,”name”:”MMS ID 47486 (created by CM Utility)”,”URI”:”/2/-934017347-1425510077702.”,”createDate”:”2015-03-04 05:01:17″,”metadata”:{“AUTHOR”:”automatic-content-migration”,”KEYWORDS”:””},”href”:”https://www.cstatic-images.com/stock/1170×1170/2/-934017347-1425510077702.”,”description”:”Came from http://blogs.cars.com/.a/6a00d83451b3c669e20120a7a7c94f970b-800wi”,”externalid”:”47486″,”updatedby”:”cmuadmin”,”updateddate”:1425511435376,”associations”:{}} &&&&&EMBEDDED_ELEMENT_END&&&&&

Yep, Kia is going to put its version of Ford’s Sync into cars starting this summer. The Korean automaker teamed with Microsoft to brand its own version of the system that allows voice control of music, phone calls and text messages.

Kia is calling its system UVO, short for “Your Voice,” which isn’t quite as simple as Sync, but at least it doesn’t have a K wedged in there for no good reason.
 
UVO will be available this summer in the 2011 Kia Sorento, which actually goes on sale this month. It will then be introduced into other models in the Kia lineup after that. Since most vehicles of the Kia lineup are 2010 model years, we’d expect it to be slotted in the 2011s when they roll out after the summer.

Kia’s news release says the system comes with a 4.3-inch LCD screen that packs a rearview camera. One nice aspect of Ford’s Sync is that it can be affordably added to vehicles without an LCD screen. There’s no word of pricing for Kia’s system, but we should have more information later in the week.