There were many rumors of an SDK coming out for the Tesla, but after a fairly involved search, i have been able to find no updates more than musings and rumors. Has anyone heard anything or found a source i might have overlooked?
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Any update on the now quiet SDK rumors
- Thread starter Bperry
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- Model S User Interface
I'm not sure if you are referring to a recent rumor or slow ripples from the October reveal of 2011. I haven't heard even a whisper about the SDK from any official (Tesla) outlet in over 18 months.
araxara
X-LR M3AWD, MYLR
Considering that they are having a hard time keeping up with software updates, and any major software updates won't come out until after they have finished the internationalization of the current software (for European deliveries), an SDK would require a considerable effort along with the proper support. It seems that they do not have sufficient personnel to handle this. Having said that, I hope they are listening and consider this a challenge to prove me wrong…
The Fury
Member
True, but last I checked EU deliveries were set for July. Are they still on track to meet that target by the end of the month? If so, it won't be an excuse for much longer.
Personally, I would rather see them devoting time to 1) sleep mode 2) support for 120 kw supercharging and 3) back-up camera lines before moving their attention to third-party developers.
They have always said it would be at least a year before SDK support came out. I suspect that was being overly optimistic.
The Fury
Member
This.
Even if it was just limited "read-only" access to features (so we don't brick our car), it would really start to open people up to the true potential of driving a computer around. Yes, they do have more important things to work on, but this *should* be pretty high on the list. For better or worse an SDK would attract more drivers, more developers and more attention. (# of iphone apps for reference)
Especially since this car has no equal "in terms of nerd magnetism".
kevin99
Member
There is some reversed engineer API on the web, if you google it. should be the same as the official one.
I am actually not impressed by the glass app. Yeah the guy is able to use those API to build it for the glass so you can leverage the voice capability of the glass, so what? Everything seems straight forward.
The Fury
Member
Nothing particularly impressive about it - except for the fact that he did it, and I didn't. Yes, I have Glass. Have had it since early May. Could have easily been the first to do it, but I didn't have the idea, didn't even occur to me it would be possible with reverse-engineered API's. Shame on me
Morristhecat
Member
I asked the service center guy about this last weekend. He said that Tesla is preparing the app store but won't be releasing the sdk for security reasons. He said that one of the apps he has seen gives your S a Ferrari engine sound, I presume through the speakers. I am worried that if they don't open up the sdk it will all be a disappointment.
That sort of sounds like a contradiction to me. And if there are legitimate security reasons for not releasing an SDK, their security architecture must be quite poor. I hope this is not the case.
I suspect the order of things here is as follows:
• Finalize the cellular data deals with carriers. What's holding it up? Perhaps size of installed base, which to a telecom carrier's eyes would be puny compared to what they're used to. Perhaps the economies of scale are still out of Tesla's reach in terms of a reasonable price to charge customers for data, so they're absorbing the cost rather than passing it on. But we all know the data plans are coming, and Tesla will pass 'em on to us, and they'll probably be pretty expensive, perhaps even more than data plans for our smartphones, again, due to the small installed base compared to millions of mobile devices.
• Tesla needs to embark on a third-party developer evangelism effort. Quietly at first, perhaps for months. Perhaps it is already underway. Perhaps a lucky few developers are already working on apps. I doubt it. I don't think it's a priority until post 25% margins, meaning, post Q4-2013.
• Perhaps by end of 2014, or timed to the release of the Sig Model X's, an app store will appear. Perhaps sooner. But they've got to have apps to offer in the store even on opening day. It's the old chicken vs egg problem. And to have apps they've got to have developers in place. And an app store rollout probably requires the data plans to be active. All in all I think this stuff is still months away but hopefully some developers will quietly be contacted over the next quarter or two.
Anyways, that's how I kinda envision things rolling out.
• Finalize the cellular data deals with carriers. What's holding it up? Perhaps size of installed base, which to a telecom carrier's eyes would be puny compared to what they're used to. Perhaps the economies of scale are still out of Tesla's reach in terms of a reasonable price to charge customers for data, so they're absorbing the cost rather than passing it on. But we all know the data plans are coming, and Tesla will pass 'em on to us, and they'll probably be pretty expensive, perhaps even more than data plans for our smartphones, again, due to the small installed base compared to millions of mobile devices.
• Tesla needs to embark on a third-party developer evangelism effort. Quietly at first, perhaps for months. Perhaps it is already underway. Perhaps a lucky few developers are already working on apps. I doubt it. I don't think it's a priority until post 25% margins, meaning, post Q4-2013.
• Perhaps by end of 2014, or timed to the release of the Sig Model X's, an app store will appear. Perhaps sooner. But they've got to have apps to offer in the store even on opening day. It's the old chicken vs egg problem. And to have apps they've got to have developers in place. And an app store rollout probably requires the data plans to be active. All in all I think this stuff is still months away but hopefully some developers will quietly be contacted over the next quarter or two.
Anyways, that's how I kinda envision things rolling out.
As sad as it is, I can see the install-base issue being problematic for developers too. Will Pandora develop an app simply to reach a potential 20k more people? I suppose Tesla could pay them to do it, or gain access to their API via an agreement and write their own.
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