Microsoft's Sync, a voice-activated communications and entertainment system available exclusively on new Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles, will receive several major upgrades as part of its 2.0 release.

According to The Detroit News, the second-generation version of the Bluetooth-wired system was unwrapped at CES last night and will include new features such as traffic updates for selected routes, turn-by-turn directions, weather for specific areas, and personalized news, including sports scores, stock listings, and entertainment highlights. First introduced in the 2008 Ford Taurus, the upgraded Sync will be available free of charge for three years on all 2010 Ford models.

Stay tuned for more on this and other hot Microsoft tech as we continue to bring you the latest straight from the CES floor. You can also learn more about Ford Sync here.

For PCMag's full CES coverage, go to http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,2235882,00.asp.