Phonebook contact photos

[znino]

Has anyone been able to get pictures associated with your telephone contacts? I would have hoped that the pictures in my iPhone contact list would get transferred to the car with the phone numbers and names and the pictures would show up on the dash when on a call instead of the standard grey person avatar. Has anyone found a way to get pictures on the screen, either automatically from your phone or by some manual method?

 

[steve841]

Im hoping that's part of a "near future" firmware update .....

 

[NigelM]

Im hoping that's part of a "near future" firmware update .....

I'm genuinely curious why? I never understood what benefit there is to be had to see a contact's photo when they call me. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[Todd Burch]

I'm genuinely curious why? I never understood what benefit there is to be had to see a contact's photo when they call me. Maybe I'm missing something.

At least 3--no, four--reasons I can think of:

1: It's not unheard of to know two people with the same first and last name.
2: The picture communicates who is calling faster than reading the name
3: It just looks nicer.
4: Adds more of a friendlier, personal touch to the car. Like putting your own wallpaper on your desktop computer.

 

[znino]

I'm genuinely curious why? I never understood what benefit there is to be had to see a contact's photo when they call me. Maybe I'm missing something.

You may have a point. It's mostly cosmetic but there is really no point in having it the way it currently is implemented in the Model S, I.e. a grey, blank outline of a generic headshot.

 

[brianman]

I'm genuinely curious why? I never understood what benefit there is to be had to see a contact's photo when they call me. Maybe I'm missing something.

While I find value with seeing the person's picture (though I don't have a convincing argument at the ready)...

3: It just looks nicer.

... it's simply awful looking to have the placeholder for the person rather than actually the picture that is available on my phone. Either make the affordance show the picture, or adjust the UI to remove the useless clip art.

 

[znino]

... it's simply awful looking to have the placeholder for the person rather than actually the picture that is available on my phone. Either make the affordance show the picture, or adjust the UI to remove the useless clip art.

Totally,agree with you.

 

[Francis Lau]

I'm genuinely curious why? I never understood what benefit there is to be had to see a contact's photo when they call me. Maybe I'm missing something.

I think the biggest reason is that it is cool. Just like why we need album art or icons, and not just plain text for everything

 

[brianman]

I think the biggest reason is that it is cool. Just like why we need album art or icons, and not just plain text for everything

Icons are a slightly different story.

• More expression ("a picture's worth 1000 words")
• Easier to recognize from a distance / at low resolution
• Often don't need to be localized for different languages

Aesthetics come well behind those 3, IMO.

- - - Updated - - -

Either make the affordance show the picture, or adjust the UI to remove the useless clip art.

Slight refinement to my previous post...

If a (future?) Tesla vehicle can call me and will be recognized such that different clip art clearly indicates that a machine is calling me, then I stand corrected: the humanoid clip art isn't useless.

If the calling machine is a telemarketing bot, then please just block the call instead.

 

[steve841]

I'm genuinely curious why? I never understood what benefit there is to be had to see a contact's photo when they call me. Maybe I'm missing something.

Nigel ... .here's the most simple answer I can give:

Because it can!

LOL ... Seriously .. everyone else nailed it.

 

[mknox]

I remember seeing a video demo of one of the alpha or Beta cars where the Tesla rep calls up Elon Musk and there is a contact picture shown on the screen. Must have been a mock-up or some early software that never made it out.

 

[alset]

Does Bluetooth support pictures in an address book entry? That will be the determining factor as this all has to come through BT.

 

[NigelM]

OK next question: I have >1,000 numbers in my phone, how do you collect all those photos?

 

[jerry33]

OK next question: I have >1,000 numbers in my phone, how do you collect all those photos?

Very discreetly.

 

[vfx]

OK next question: I have >1,000 numbers in my phone, how do you collect all those photos?

Google?

Yearbooks?

 

[FalconNinetyD]

If you sync a Facebook account with your phone, you should have the option to add photos for those contacts. Also, if you are syncing with Outlook, you should be able to add the photo in Outlook and have it appear on your phone...

 

[mknox]

If you sync a Facebook account with your phone, you should have the option to add photos for those contacts. Also, if you are syncing with Outlook, you should be able to add the photo in Outlook and have it appear on your phone...

I sync my iPhone with Google Contacts (using Exchange protocol) and photos sync back and forth both ways...

 

[NigelM]

If you sync a Facebook account with your phone, you should have the option to add photos for those contacts.

I don't do Facebook. I figure my friends don't need to be updated every time I'm bored. :wink:

 

[FalconNinetyD]

Hmmm, reminds me of this article which I saw today:
What Do You Think of People Without Facebook Accounts?

 

[NigelM]

Hmmm, reminds me of this article which I saw today:
What Do You Think of People Without Facebook Accounts?

Haha, the comments are better than the article. I'd join FB if they let be a moderator there also......speaking of which, we're going too far off topic here.