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Lincoln Aviator warning and alert sounds are played by an orchestra

Lincoln used members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to create alert chimes for its new Aviator SUV. Luxury manufacturers are always looking for more ways to increase the level of ambiance, and Lincoln went so far as to contract some of the best musicians in the world to create a more comfortable atmosphere. In total, the musicians created six different alert chimes for 25 different alerts the Aviator could provide. The alert chimes fall into three different categories Lincoln uses for warnings: non-critical, soft-warning chimes and hard-warning chimes. They are all made using a blend of percussion instruments, violin and viola. Lincoln plans to expand the instrumental sounds across its entire lineup eventually. These chimes will represent warnings for things like an open fuel door, unbuckled seat belt, the lowering of the power liftgate and plenty more. It's not a bad day when leaving your headlights on or door open lead to a pleasant musical sound coming from your speakers. All the sounds seem appropriate for their particular functions, and do sound more pleasing than the normal alerts. Lincoln says the musicians initially came up with 125 different sound options before they narrowed it down to just six. While it might feel a bit gimmicky at face value, a calming sound playing versus an annoying beep might reduce in-car aggravation. The Aviator with these warning sounds will be revealed at the LA Auto Show at the end of the month as well. It was originally shown as a close-to-production-looking concept car at the NY Auto Show earlier this year. All the official production details will be coming in LA. We'll be there in-person to tell you if these new musical chimes are a win. Lincoln Aviator warning chimes View 5 Photos Related video:

2017 Lincoln Continental garnering strong interest

According to Automotive News, Lincoln has a list of about 40,000 people who have expressed interest in the brand's upcoming Continental sedan. While that may sound paltry next to the 250,000 people or so who have so far put deposits down for a Tesla Model 3, it's great news for Ford's luxury brand. "This is the most buzz I've seen in a long, long time," says Dan Marks, chairman of the Lincoln National Dealer Council. Lincoln is riding a wave of increased interest in 2016, having topped 100,000 sales last year. Prior to that, the last time that milestone was passed was way back in 2008. As is the case with most automakers, though, much of Lincoln's sales boost can be traced back to strong demand for crossovers like the MKX and SUVs like the Navigator. That makes 2017 an interesting time for Lincoln to be relaunching the Continental sedan. We can expect to see lots of marketing leading to its launch. "Extensive prelaunch activities" are planned, Matt VanDyke, director of global Lincoln, told Automotive News. We'll have to wait a little while longer before we know whether all that pent-up interest leads to actual sales. Or, put another way, whether the 2017 Continental will be a mic drop moment or a big flop.

Ford to add Android Auto and CarPlay to 2016 SYNC 3 cars via update

Ford is updating a large number of 2016 model year cars equipped with SYNC 3 infotainment software, adding Android Auto and CarPlay to the vehicles with a free, over-the-air update via Wi-Fi, or using either USB or going through their dealer. The upgrade will be available for around 800,000 vehicles in total, giving a huge number of Ford car owners the chance to get big infotainment improvements without having to buy a newer model car. The OTA update option is also a big step for Ford – it's the company's first for software ever, and it's one of the major reasons that Ford recently hired around 400 new mobile smartphone engineers, the company tells me. For CarPlay, users will still also need to upgrade their vehicle's USB hub to make this work (which will also incur a dealer visit and a cost), but for those on Android, all that's required is a simple software installation. The USB install method is also faster, but the Wi-Fi update option is the start of the company's efforts to really increase its OTA update program, which will be used for security improvements as well as infotainment bumps. Even with a dealer visit and hardware upgrade for CarPlay, this sounds like a worthwhile thing for 2016 vehicle owners to do. CarPlay and Android Auto are huge upgrades vs. most in-car software, offering navigation and entertainment options that follow you from your phone to your car. Retroactively offering this kind of thing to car owners is a definite change in tone for carmakers, since they typically use these kinds of things as incentives to get people interested in vehicle model updates. But as data becomes increasingly important to automakers as a business, it makes sense to encourage greater in-car use of devices.Written by Darrell Etherington for TechCrunchRelated Video: Auto News Ford Lincoln Technology Infotainment android