Model S mobile App ... OS?

[onlinespending]

Whispernet is not free. It is paid for out of the book you are downloading.

I guess that they could do something like the N years free map updates. Charge it all up-front, so there is no monthly bill.

Roadster has 'free' cellular for Tesla's own use - they can justify that by it being under their control, getting valuable battery performance data from the car, and getting paid for the annual service.

I suppose it's not free to Amazon, though for all intents and purposes it's free to the end user. There's tons of free books that I can still download over Whispernet. Sure you could argue that the non-free books subsidize the cost of all whispernet usage, even the completely free ebooks.

The fact is, I'm sure Amazon is getting a rather good deal with AT&T. Tesla could get a similar deal when limited to data sent to the company and for control/monitoring by the app (and given that this would go through Tesla's servers, they would have "control" over the usage as well if that's a concern), which would all be very low bandwidth. In fact, AT&T may be willing to reach a deal for free given just how little the data would be, since it's free advertising and exposure for the company. And lets remember, that may be part of the deal for being the exclusive data provider for the Model S. Any Model S customer wanting a full data plan will need to get one through AT&T. They'd be happy to offer free low-bandwidth usage for the rights to more paid data plans. And even if Tesla were paying a fee, I'd imagine it'd be pretty nominal, so the cost could be covered by the cost of each Model S.

 

[markwj]

And lets remember, that may be part of the deal for being the exclusive data provider for the Model S. Any Model S customer wanting a full data plan will need to get one through AT&T. They'd be happy to offer free low-bandwidth usage for the rights to more paid data plans.

That is economically very workable. But, wouldn't there be an uproar here if it was locked to AT&T?

I hear a lot of hate towards AT&T. Outside north america, there is more choice for cellular provider.

 

[dsm363]

I think most of the bad press for AT&T was related to them getting the iPhone first and probably not having the network to handle it (Verizon probably wouldn't have been ready either). People do seem to be happier with Verizon for phone calls in certain cities. For a simple data package, AT&T should be fine.

 

[Robert.Boston]

I thought someone said that every Model S will have low-bandwidth 3G connection for status & control. I'm hoping this is including for the 'lifetime' of the car, kinda like a Kindle has low-bandwidth 3G connectivity for free to download books.

If you want web, streaming music, etc, you will need a data plan...

This describes my impression from the sketch that the Tesla rep at the Boston event gave.

 

[gmontem]

I received the e-mail below from a Tesla Motors representative last Friday regarding WP app for the Model S. Windows Phone owners, let your voice be heard and please write to them. :smile:

Happy Friday George,

Thanks for reaching out to us, please continue to do
so when the need arises in the future. I just heard back from our app
development team, and at this time we only have plans for an iOS and Android app
for the Model S. However, if there is expressed interest and a healthy demand
for a WP7/Metro app, we will begin to explore our options.

Enjoy your
Weekend!

Cheers,

Ownership Experience Team
[email protected]
1-877-77-TESLA
(877-778-3752)

Peter Welch | Ownership Experience Advocate
3500 Deer
Creek Road | Palo Alto, CA 94304
p 877.778.3752 | e [email protected]

 

[FalconNinetyD]

Seeing that Windows phone is down to 4% market share, I don't see Tesla spending much if any resources on development on it...

 

[gmontem]

Those figures are irrelevant if you don't filter only for actual Tesla Model S customers.
Sent from my HTC Titan using Board Express

 

[Robert.Boston]

Unclear why we should expect Tesla customers to significantly differ in their choice of smartphone from the general populace.

 

[AnOutsider]

Seeing that Windows phone is down to 4% market share, I don't see Tesla spending much if any resources on development on it...

saying "down to" indicates it fell. I wasn't aware marketshare fell. They essentially started with 0% market share last year since WP7 isn't the same as the old Windows Mobile. That said, if Sprint doesn't get better windows phones, I'll likely be switching anywho.

 

[gmontem]

Does the general population spend $80k on a car? What if a good percentage of Tesla Model S customers happen to use Windows Phone? Should Tesla still give them substandard support because the mainstream non-Tesla public are iOS and Android users?

Btw, what smartphone do you use and what is your agenda for discouraging Tesla's customers from asking for support? Please stop trolling.
Sent from my HTC Titan using Board Express

 

[AnOutsider]

Does the general population spend $80k on a car? What if a good percentage of Tesla Model S customers happen to use Windows Phone? Should Tesla still give them substandard support because the mainstream non-Tesla public are iOS and Android users?

Btw, what smartphone do you use and what is your agenda for discouraging Tesla's customers from asking for support? Please stop trolling.
Sent from my HTC Titan using Board Express

To be fair, I don't see trolling. I see realism. I like my windows phone, but I fully recognize its a minority player in the mobile OS space. Heard of a cool app? You can pretty much bet there's no WP version.

 

[vfx]

Anybody ask if it will work with our Roadsters as well?

 

[spatterso911]

Well, the results of this impromptu, unscientific poll suggests that WP7 is not the majority player for those seeking a Model S. I imagine that eventually a version for WP7 will come out, but just like all other software developers out there, apps are available for the most popular OS versions available and subsequently ported to the less popular ones.

 

[NigelM]

Anybody ask if it will work with our Roadsters as well?

Yes, and no it won't. I understand the Model S app is not available at launch and the Roadster app will be much later. My impression (which may be wrong) is that the Roadster will be a year or more away.

 

[jerry33]

Windows-free since 1991.

 

[dsm363]

Does the general population spend $80k on a car? What if a good percentage of Tesla Model S customers happen to use Windows Phone? Should Tesla still give them substandard support because the mainstream non-Tesla public are iOS and Android users?

Btw, what smartphone do you use and what is your agenda for discouraging Tesla's customers from asking for support? Please stop trolling.
Sent from my HTC Titan using Board Express

Which person are you accusing of trolling exactly? The windows phone is not a popular choice and Tesla has said they won't support it at launch.

 

[doug]

Might make more sense for them to come up with a web app before they do WP7.

 

[dsm363]

Might make more sense for them to come up with a web app before they do WP7.

That is a good idea. Easy way to support all of the smaller markets without having to develop an app for each platform with only a few percent of the smartphone market.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

A web app would imply that there's communication with a central server that acts as the proxy for communicating with the car.

Is that the case even with the mobile apps? I thought that the app would communicate with the car directly?!

I don't necessarily want Tesla having the chance to monitor my behavior w.r.t. the operations that I can do from the mobile app but, more importantly, we'd be at the mercy of the stability and uptime of the central server hosted by Tesla.

Oh, the car could be running the web server, I suppose! Duh...

 

[dsm363]

Wouldn't the mobile app almost certainly have to talk with some central server? If you were in a movie theater outside the range of WiFi in your car, you couldn't tell your car to turn the AC on unless it communicated via cellular signal (or WiFi in the movie theater in this example) if it didn't talk with some server that then sent commands to your car.