Nav System after v5.0: wishes, wants, Google maps and more...

[NigelM]

In reading the release notes, it says street labels will be upside down when driving south in direction mode.

That seems... odd.

Not really odd. Tesla uses images from Google Maps which are only North up; rotating the image in the car is the equivalent of picking up your desktop monitor and rotating that.

 

[wdimagineer]

Not really odd. Tesla uses images from Google Maps which are only North up; rotating the image in the car is the equivalent of picking up your desktop monitor and rotating that.

It is odd when no other navigation platform I've used handles it in this fashion. Even the cluster orients labels correctly.

I have no issue reading upside down but it does take longer for my brain to process. I hope they address this in a future release.

I'll wait to see it in action before I pass final judgment.

 

[Stoneymonster]

Not really odd. Tesla uses images from Google Maps which are only North up; rotating the image in the car is the equivalent of picking up your desktop monitor and rotating that.

Not if they were using vector maps, which I had assumed they were to accomplish this feature. Guess not.

 

[brianman]

Not if they were using vector maps, which I had assumed they were to accomplish this feature. Guess not.

Based on the many reports of individual tiles being stale when switching between day/night mode it was pretty obvious (to me at least) that they were/are using bitmap images from Google not vector. It didn't surprise me in the least to see the "we added a rotate transform to the rendering" approach. Hopefully this will light a fire under Google to open up the vector content to Tesla, because really it makes Google look bad more than Tesla.

 

[gregincal]

Based on the many reports of individual tiles being stale when switching between day/night mode it was pretty obvious (to me at least) that they were/are using bitmap images from Google not vector. It didn't surprise me in the least to see the "we added a rotate transform to the rendering" approach. Hopefully this will light a fire under Google to open up the vector content to Tesla, because really it makes Google look bad more than Tesla.

I had to laugh a Nigel's post, however, because I see that all the time in software engineering when I point out a usability problem. "Oh, no, it should work that way because that's the way the software was written." Um, OK, but your program still sucks.

 

[brianman]

I had to laugh a Nigel's post, however, because I see that all the time in software engineering when I point out a usability problem. "Oh, no, it should work that way because that's the way the software was written." Um, OK, but your program still sucks.

Terminology-related drama happens all the time for stuff like that.

• "That behavior is by design."
• "But it's a bug."
• "No, that's incorrect. It's by design."
• "But it sucks."
• "Yes, that's correct. We hope to make it better next release, but it's by design for this release."
• "But it sucks. It's a bug."
• "No, it's not."
• "Explain."
• "Imagine you're the programmer and you get this spec for a retarded feature. You implement it perfectly."
• "Right, so that's a retarded feature. It's a bug."
• "Agree, disagree. Yes it would be a retarded feature. But it's not a bug. The specification was implemented perfectly."
• "Oh. So it's a spec bug?"
• "Some would use that term, yes."

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Tesla uses images from Google Maps which are only North up; rotating the image in the car is the equivalent of picking up your desktop monitor and rotating that.

I just checked my phone to verify, and the Google Maps do rotate the labels when I turn around. I would assume they're vector-based. I realize that the phone's Maps app gets updated fairly frequently for millions of people, whereas Tesla iterates the car's app much more slowly... but would this mean that the maps or the API are now vector, and were bitmap, and that a future Tesla update will get vector-based maps with all the goodness that entails? Or am I missing something?

 

[dirkhh]

.@brianman... +1
Do you work in software by any chance?

 

[brianman]

I just checked my phone to verify, and the Google Maps do rotate the labels when I turn around.

Which phone do you have?

 

[Stoneymonster]

I just checked my phone to verify, and the Google Maps do rotate the labels when I turn around. I would assume they're vector-based. I realize that the phone's Maps app gets updated fairly frequently for millions of people, whereas Tesla iterates the car's app much more slowly... but would this mean that the maps or the API are now vector, and were bitmap, and that a future Tesla update will get vector-based maps with all the goodness that entails? Or am I missing something?

On mine (Google Maps app on iPhone) it's a mix: street labels obviously follow streets and rotate, but Cities, Towns, and place markers do not rotate.

 

[Citizen-T]

I had to laugh a Nigel's post, however, because I see that all the time in software engineering when I point out a usability problem. "Oh, no, it should work that way because that's the way the software was written." Um, OK, but your program still sucks.

There's a difference between bad software design and architectural limitations. This is an architectural limitation.

I'd compare it to complaining about the transmission hump in an ICE. You may not like it, but the car's architecture requires it. Your options are either to have the hump, or raise the entire floor up to the top of the hump. Likewise, either you can have your street names upside down, or your maps need to stay oriented with N up. Unless Tesla builds their own mapping solution (horrible idea, *cough* *cough*, Apple) or they get some help from Google, the software guys probably have their hands tied.

I'd really like to see Tesla enter into an agreement with Google to get access to their vector maps and navigation. That would be a much more robust system. Com'on Larry! Do it!

 

[Denarius]

Yes, would be nice to get google routing instead of navigon.

 

[ADN_ModelS]

Yes, would be nice to get google routing instead of navigon.

+1!!

 

[Beaker]

Terminology-related drama happens all the time for stuff like that.

• "That behavior is by design."
• "But it's a bug."
• "No, that's incorrect. It's by design."
• "But it sucks."
• "Yes, that's correct. We hope to make it better next release, but it's by design for this release."
• "But it sucks. It's a bug."
• "No, it's not."
• "Explain."
• "Imagine you're the programmer and you get this spec for a retarded feature. You implement it perfectly."
• "Right, so that's a retarded feature. It's a bug."
• "Agree, disagree. Yes it would be a retarded feature. But it's not a bug. The specification was implemented perfectly."
• "Oh. So it's a spec bug?"
• "Some would use that term, yes."

Very close to conversations our QA manager used to have:

• I Found a bug.
• No, that's as designed.
• Really?
• Yep.
• Then it's designed WRONG! Now go fix it.

 

[mitch672]

Yes, would be nice to get google routing instead of navigon.

Google bought Waze, that would be nice to have integrated to the touchscreen.

 

[Denarius]

Google bought Waze, that would be nice to have integrated to the touchscreen.

Waze is REALLY what I want. I have my smartphone suction cupped to my carbon fiber so I can see waze while driving. But I would be content with google's routing. Navigon won't route to my house properly. Every other mapping system does.

 

[vfx]

Waze is REALLY what I want. I have my smartphone suction cupped to my carbon fiber so I can see waze while driving. But I would be content with google's routing. Navigon won't route to my house properly. Every other mapping system does.

Since the Google guys all drive Model S' we can hope they make it happen.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Which phone do you have?

Samsung Galaxy S4 on Verizon with the newest Google Maps update.

- - - Updated - - -

P.S. I also am using Waze in the car, mostly for the "live" warnings about traffic jams and police. Definite wishlist item to have the Tesla app gain Waze functionality.

 

[brianman]

I just checked my phone to verify, and the Google Maps do rotate the labels when I turn around. I would assume they're vector-based. I realize that the phone's Maps app gets updated fairly frequently for millions of people, whereas Tesla iterates the car's app much more slowly... but would this mean that the maps or the API are now vector, and were bitmap, and that a future Tesla update will get vector-based maps with all the goodness that entails? Or am I missing something?

Samsung Galaxy S4 on Verizon with the newest Google Maps update.

Now to answer your question. Yes, you're missing that Google has limited availability of their vector maps.

 

[pete8314]

Waze is REALLY what I want. I have my smartphone suction cupped to my carbon fiber so I can see waze while driving. But I would be content with google's routing. Navigon won't route to my house properly. Every other mapping system does.

Google still doesn't have my road name (it never finds it at maps.google.com, although it is correctly identified in the top right corner of the Model S map view. I added the road myself in Waze, so if/when they integrate that, and all the other stuff that Waze can do, it'll be a really powerful tool.