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Tesla CEO Says Model S Will Support Third-Party Apps
thecarchik writes "The electric-car maker's CEO said at a conference today in San Francisco that the much-hyped Model S electric sedan will support third-party apps and text-to-voice capabilities. With its large 17-inch touchscreen console, car fans and investors have long suspected that third-party apps might be part of the Model S plan, but Wednesday's announcement was the first acknowledgement from Musk that the company is courting a developer community."
computer car viruses were born.
Why are they coming up with their own operating system and app ecosystem, is this really the core competency of a car company? Why aren't they using Android, which already has text to voice, voice to text, GPS navigation, and almost everything else you might need in a car?
And airgap it from the drivetrain and power management.
They're way ahead of you: All the car's components communicate wirelessly!
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
There was a poll some time ago, must admit can't remember if slashdot or reddit, about the most overpriced piece of technology you use.
My answer would be car-related. From the ludicrous stereo to the 50p light snesing diode that seems to translate to hundreds of pounds when translated into the phrase "automatic headlights", in-car tech is ripe for commoditisation. An open platform will do wonders for this, even if 'open' isn't the libre definition but simply a published API.
Cheers,
Ian
You should have the right to repair your own car and not have to go to the dealer to read out some codes / reset stuff. Any car shop should be able to get the software / hardware needed to fix cars and not have it be locked to the dealer.
You mean a Beowulf convoy?
Guys, I really don't get it. Can someone post a "car analogy" for me, please?
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
They are working on the car, this is a side thing that will bring in things from the outside. You can't work on the car but you could add cool things to it and contribute to it in that way. It also means they may have some great new ideas that SELL the car to people who are less interested in going green. If they get a community going around this aspect they can free up resources.... like if the linux people take over the system and save MS taxes so later the smaller car can be cheaper.
Its not just about batteries - which they don't do - its about getting an affordable CAR that people can buy and actually drive. It has to be expensive, so they went with the high end sports car and now they've worked down to the expensive car next they can work down to a mid-level car. Its harder to get the cheap affordable car so their approach to appeal to the top and work down is a WISE MOVE and helps dispel the myths of electric that have been around for so long. The sports car did a great job showing all that PR was lies- the problem is range but they don't have to be weak ugly little cars like the stereotype. This is just a step towards an electric we can all afford (pending battery tech which isn't really their thing.)
The average American need more than just a smart electric car like the Aptera - sure they don't ACTUALLY need more most of the time but the problem is that they don't believe that.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
Or "apps". Too much "head down" time.
I don't want drivers looking at a screen instead of the road. They should be driving, not playing Angry Birds. At least until self-driving car technology is deployed.
Also as a cyclist, I hate to break it to you: they're already here. most of the new cars I see can't be heard over the wind unless they're rolling, and the drivers have smartphones...
is this really the core competency of a car company?
If you are asking can car companies do software, the answer is absolutely yes. Modern cars are loaded with software and every major car company has to be good at it. HOWEVER, the car companies are not very good at the sort of software you find in consumer electronics. Their development cycles are too slow, volumes are too low and their costs are too high to play in that space.
Ford actually did something pretty smart with their Sync platform and (finally) realized that they just need to provide an interface to the stuff on your smartphone instead of trying to reinvent it themselves. (and they did try - repeatedly) Lets the consumer electronics companies do what they do well and let the car companies do what they do well. Took Ford a lot of wasted development efforts to realize that but they seem to have come to their senses.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure a company founded by Elon Musk probably will have some clue how software works.
Although my wife's Jaguar has a touchscreen, it is surrounded by controls for the most commonly used features (knob for audio volume, buttons for source select and program advance/rewind, touch-identifiable for temp/fan/defrost climate controls). Only infrequently used controls and the nav system need the touchscreen, and the nav system is never used (despite buying a map update) except by out-of-town visitors, and they get voice directions once I program the destination in the driveway. The most-used control on the touchscreen is the one that sets the display to the Jaguar logo, since it defaults to the main menu unless you had one of the other subsystems up when the car was shut down.
The electro-stoners that are busy running through the menus on their no-knob stereos and touch screen systems are as bad as any substance abusers. Confiscate their wheels and put their cars on blocks, so they can play in their living rooms without menacing the rest of us.