Bryan Mistele

LAS VEGAS -- It didn't grab as much attention as Ford's addition of Twitter support and a slick new dashboard screen, but the automaker's unveiling of its next-generation Sync in-car technology here today was particularly good news for Inrix, the Kirkland-based traffic data provider.

As part of the upgrade, Ford said it plans to make navigation standard on Sync-enabled vehicles. Inrix supplies navigation and traffic-related data to Ford, and it collects licensing fees from the automaker based on the number of vehicles in which its technology is used.

"They've been a great partner for us," said Bryan Mistele, the Inrix CEO, during an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Up until now, navigation was limited to a relatively small portion of Sync-enabled vehicles, as more of a high-end feature. Alan Mulally, the Ford CEO and former Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief, touted the new Sync at CES today.

The Ford system runs on Microsoft's automotive technology, allowing people to make hands-free calls and control media using voice commands, among other features. Inrix was founded based on predictive traffic technology licensed from Microsoft, although it has expanded significantly beyond that since then.

Also at the show, Inrix rolled out a new premium mobile traffic app and announced a significant addition of arterial road data in its service for monitoring and predicting traffic.