“Apple’s new Maps are a huge leap over iOS 5 maps in pure technology: the use of vector maps (mathematically described, resolution independent map information rather than static bitmapped pictures of map tiles) enables fast, sophisticated navigation of 2D and 3D views with fluid panning, rotation and perspective, in contrast to the flat, static map images provided by Apple’s previous version of the app,” Daniel Eran Dilger reports for AppleInsider. “Using vectors also results in much less data use (an estimated 80 percent less), as your iPhone can download large areas of maps faster (eating up less of your data plan and battery).”

“The efficient outlines can also work offline far further after you lose your data connection. For example, while iOS 5 Maps would load Google’s map tiles of the immediate area being browsed at a couple zoom levels for offline browsing (generally less than a 10 mile radius), Apple’s new vector maps, once loaded in San Francisco, allowed us to browse an entire continent of high level maps (state outlines) while offline, north from Anchorage, Alaska to Lima, Peru and from Honolulu, Hawaii to Montréal, Canada,” Dilger reports. “At a highway level detail, we could actually navigate most of California, and on a simplified level, the western half of the United States.”

Dilger reports, “Offline Maps, a new feature in Google’s Android Maps released this summer, lets you manually select a regions you can save to your device. However, Google limits this support to an area of about a 50 mile (80 km) radius. Google provides full detail for offline map regions, but the area of coverage is much less than Apple’s iOS 6 Maps caches automatically.”

Much more in the full article – recommended – here.