If there’s one thing we all learned from Apple’s Maps mea culpa, it’s that mapping the globe is a tricky business. It took the search giant seven years and tremendous manpower to turn Google Maps into the world’s most popular mapping service. Quick to exploit rivals’ weaknesses, Google once more outlined its mapping advantage today just as Tim Cook’s apology was making rounds on the web…
Apple's boss Tim Cook just issued a mea culpa on Apple's awesome Maps in the form of an open letter published on Apple's website. What's really interesting is that the issue which threatened to snowball into a PR catastrophe has forced Apple to advise customers to use rival services "while we’re improving Maps".
It takes a tremendous amount of public outcry to force Cupertino into such a defensive position. I imagine heads will roll as Cook gives Apple's mapping team a kind of dressing down Steve Jobs once gave to the MobileMe team ("you should hate each other for having let each other down"). No matter how you look at it, the Maps fiasco has tarnished Apple's reputation, at least in my view...
Remember an ad Google's subsidiary Motorola recently published to highlight Apple Maps flaws? "Looking for 315 E 15th in Manhattan?", Google's advertisement read. "Google Maps on Droid Razr M will get you there & not #iLost in Brooklyn", it went on to suggest that iOS 6 Maps will direct users to a wrong road name in the wrong city. Well, guess what? That address doesn't even exist!
That's right, 315 E 15th Street is not an actual address in Manhattan. This whole maps thing is really getting blown out of proportion. Why would Google fake an ad and make folks search for an incorrect, ambiguous street address other than make Apple Maps look bad. Apple of course also isn't one to shy away from deceptive advertising. Remember this?
I just read through David Pogue's freshly published article on the Mapgate situation and noticed a couple interesting revelations. The New York Times technology columnist says that in two weeks, you’ll be able to get Street View in the Google Maps mobile web on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
Right now, you can use Safari on your iOS device to navigate to maps.google.com and use Google's maps on the web, though without spoken directions (you'll get written directions instead). More tidbits right below...
The Verge reported yesterday that Apple could have kept Google Maps until iOS 7 as Google's contract to keep the maps app on the iPhone had more time remaining. A new report sheds more light on the matter, with sources claiming that talks between the two Silicon Valley technology giants crashed over voice-assisted navigation.
Long story short, Google fought hard to bomb the deal as it wouldn't hand over the data needed to bring voice-guided navigation to a competing platform. Instead, the search Goliath continued to offer advanced location and navigation features on Android, widening the gap as it differentiated its platform from Apple...
Apple could have kept the stock iOS Google Maps for another year, if it wanted, a new report alleges. When Apple publicly announced in June it would drop the native Google Maps app in favor of its own solution, Google was shocked as its contract with Apple to keep the maps app on the iPhone "had more time remaining", the New York Times reports.
Luckily, if the paper's sources are to be believed, Google is working on a standalone Google Maps app though it won't be released immediately because Google wants to do it right and incorporate 3D view as it wants the program to be comparable to Apple Maps, namely its three-dimensional Flyover views of major cities...
As Apple continues to take heat over its new mapping software, the question on everyone's mind seems to be: will Google release a standalone Maps app for iOS? It's a fair question, considering it recently published a YouTube app for the platform.
But a report that surfaced last week claiming Google had already submitted a Maps app to Apple and was awaiting approval was quickly debunked. And Eric Schmidt himself confirmed yesterday that his company hasn't made a move yet...
Apple publicly commented on the ongoing criticism of its new Maps application last week, essentially asking users to be patient, as the service would get better over time.
But patience is a hard thing to ask for in a space as competitive as the smartphone market. So it looks like Apple is going to help speed up the process with some ex-Googlers...
Apple's new Maps application, which replaces Google Maps in iOS 6, has caused quite a stir in the tech community over the past few days. It's been described as "inaccurate," and "glitchy," and many feel that it's extremely inferior to its predecessor.
But the good news is, there may be light at the end of the tunnel. At least for jailbreakers anyway. Well-known jailbreak developer Ryan Petrich announced earlier today the he was able to get Google Maps working on iOS 6. And here's the video...
Apple has been taking a lot of heat over the past few days regarding its new Maps application. The company released iOS 6, the latest update to its mobile OS, to the public on Wednesday, which features the new Google Maps replacement.
Inaccuracies and missing features in the app have spawned a parody Tumblr and Twitter account, in addition to quite the uproar in the tech world. And it looks like Motorola is looking to capitalize on the criticism, with its new "iLost" ad...
Here, in case you've been wondering why Apple shipped buggy iOS Maps... Come on, you knew this was coming. I'd bet my shirt that Conan O'Brien will be next to diss Apple's crappy maps. Can you say Mapgate?
In case you haven't already known this yet, the Apple-designed iOS 6 Maps app is off to a slow start amid reports of inaccurate data sets, missing or incorrect places, lack of built-in transit data and lacking navigational features in general. Simply put, Apple Maps have a long way to go before taking Google Maps head on.
According to one cartography expert, much of the woes with Apple Maps could be traced back to Apple's lack of qualified engineers and spatial data teams. The company should also look into acquiring major mapping data providers and be more active in crowdsourcing via a dedicated service to allow people to more easily improve the quality of data, akin to TomTom's MapShare service...