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Ford Announces FuelSignal As Grand Prize Winner in the App Developer Hackathon


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Ford is announcing FuelSignal as the grand prize winner in the automaker-sponsored app developer hackathon in conjunction with the Connected Car Expo at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show

Team FuelSignal leveraged Ford’s SYNCŪ AppLink™ and data from the City of Los Angeles to create an innovative app allowing users to sign up and receive discounted gas prices and earn loyalty credits for use at gas stations

10 finalists had two months to refine their apps with the Ford team before display this week at the Connected Car Expo Team FuelSignal won the first-ever Connected Car-Connected City App Pursuit at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show Connected Car Expo, Ford announced. FuelSignal was selected today from among 10 finalists for the grand prize.

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LOS ANGELES -- November 20, 2014: “We were very excited to see the innovation all 10 finalists showed in their Ford SYNC AppLink-enabled apps at the Connected Car Expo this week,” said Scott Burnell, global lead, Partner Management, Ford Developer Program. “The judges felt the FuelSignal app really captured the spirit of the Connected Car-Connected City App Pursuit.”

Using Ford SYNCŪ AppLink™ and more than 200 data sets released by the city of Los Angeles (data.lacity.org), Team FuelSignal created an app wherein users can sign up to receive discounted fuel prices and earn loyalty credits for use at gas stations.

When a user’s mobile device is paired with Ford SYNC, FuelSignal monitors vehicle fuel level through the AppLink application programming interface. When the fuel level drops low, the application provides an alert, enabling the driver to find the nearest gas station with a discounted price.

FuelSignal provides additional convenience for drivers by allowing them to pay for their fuel purchase using a mobile wallet at the pump via AppLink. Every purchase completed through the app earns loyalty credits that can be used inside the location or applied as further discount for fuel purchases.

The 10 finalists spent the past two months refining their apps with Ford engineers before they were displayed this week at the Connected Car Expo.

Team FuelSignal will be awarded a feature announcement with Ford at the 2015 International CES in Las Vegas. “FuelSignal combined Ford vehicle data with city of L.A. data to provide a simple and compelling set of features that would definitely appeal to drivers,” Burnell said.