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...
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?
Since iOS 6 went live yesterday morning, there has been a lot of commotion regarding Apple's new Maps application. As most of you know, Apple replaced Google's mapping software with its own in-house solution this year.
And people hate it. Reports over the last 24 hours have berated the app for not having transit information, being inaccurate, and just flat out not being as good as its predecessor. Well, Apple responded to the criticism this afternoon...
Unless you've been sleeping under a rock for the past 24 hours, you are aware that crappy Apple Maps in iOS 6 provoked a very public backlash. We told you earlier today that a Google executive hinted in a brief interview with Bloomberg TV that iPhone 5 users can go download Google Maps, an unusual wording given that a rumored native Google Maps app couldn't be found on the App Store yet.
Adding fuel to fire, The Guardian newspaper reports that Google submitted the program and that it is now in Apple's sole discretion to approve it. Whether or not club Cupertino greenlights the nsoftware or throws it down the toilet over duplicate functionality remains to be seen.
At any rate, a native Google Maps experience akin to the recently released YouTube app would be more than welcome given the controversial downgrade that is Apple's in-house mapping solution in iOS 6...
Exploiting a record $25 million settlement Google negotiated with The United States Government over the iOS Safari privacy breach that erupted back in February 2012, software giant Microsoft put together a little web page meant to convince Apple users to use Bing as their default search engine.
The Windows maker is reminding us of Google's failed promise of not tracking Safari users without their permission, suggesting Google's credibility has been tarnished beyond repair. Want to do something about it?
Use Bing instead, the company proposes...
Apple is suffering harsh criticism over its in-house mapping solution in iOS 6 which has for better or worse effectively replaced a Google Maps-backend. Apple Maps have been called a disaster waiting to happen and even pundit John Gruber called the system a downgrade. With more than 65 percent of the world's population left with no transit directions, traffic data and street-level imagery, Apple Maps understandably drew ire from users around the world.
No wonder nearly 85 percent of our readers think Google should write a native Maps app for iOS, just as it's done with the excellent YouTube iOS app. Commenting on the situation, Google UK Marketing Director Dan Cobley asserted that a standalone app could be released soon...
Coincidentally or not, The New York Times reports that Google will update its Maps for Android app today with new features, just as Apple is prepping to release iOS 6 for public consumption. iOS 6, as you know, drops a Google Maps-backend in favor of Apple's own mapping solution. But Apple Maps are lacking in several areas.
For example, with Apple Maps users don't get as high quality satellite imagery as with Google. Street-level photography is non-existent and transit directions are provided via dedicated App Store apps. And although Apple partners with local providers for accurate data, it currently cannot match Google, which has manpower and assets to collect its own data (and has been doing so for years).
But while Google released a standalone YouTube app for iOS following Apple's removal of the stock app, the search Goliath stopped short of saying whether a standalone Maps app is in the works for iOS devices. With this in mind, we've put together a little poll so place your bets now...
Even though Motorola Mobility filed a complaint against Apple on August 17, the handset maker is now a Google-owned entity so this really reads as the Google v. Apple complaint. Unsurprisingly, the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) today announced that it will be instituting a formal investigation of this complaint.
Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the ITC will set a target date for completing the investigation and a panel of six administrative law judges will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing pertaining to Motorola's (excuse me, Google's) complaint...
Google's relationship with Apple may be on borrowed time. Apple Maps, set to appear soon in iOS 6, will reportedly use a local company's data Yandex to provide location-search details in Russia. A developer version of iOS 6 will send users to Yandex.Maps for further information regarding locations.
A search of Vladimir Lenin's Mausoleum, for instance, gets "more details on Yandex.Maps application or offers to download Yandex.Maps from App Store if the user doesn't have it installed," a Russian developer now using iOS 6 tells Bloomberg.
Angry Birds spinoff called Bad Piggies is slated to arrive on September 27 for iOS, Android and the Mac, but Rovio still wouldn't reveal gameplay video. Luckily, an exclusive hands-on by Yahoo! Games shows us the game's mechanics which takes cues from Amazing Alex, another physics-based game from Rovio.
This means Bad Piggies tasks you with building all sorts of funny vehicles and flying aircraft so that the pigs can steal more eggs. Contrast this to smashing things up in the Angry Birds series. That being said, the safest way to think about Bad Piggies is as the sibling of Angry Birds rather than its sequel. Check out exclusive gameplay footage right below...
Google is always on an acquisition spree but if their recent deals are anything to go by, it's hard to escape the notion that the search Goliath is specifically going after very successful iOS developers.
It snapped up mobile productivity maker Quickoffice earlier in the summer and in July bought the Sparrow team and merged it with the Gmail team while saying 'no' to new features for the popular iOS and Mac email client of the same name, much to the horror of die hard fans.
If you use Snapseed, a popular photography and image editing app for the Mac and iPhone/iPad, you probably won't like this: Google just bought them for an undisclosed sum...
Hot on the heels of their big victory against Samsung here in the United States, Apple's legal team has just won another important decision against Motorola in Munich, German.
The German court has just awarded the Cupertino company a preliminary sales ban against Motorola's phones and tablets in the country, ruling that they infringe on Apple's patents...