“Despite statements by Google’s former CEO that Apple had ‘just’ renewed their Map partnership with Google, there appears to be evidence that Apple has been working on its own mapping solution in iOS 5,” Arnold Kim reports for MacRumors.
“It’s certainly no secret that Apple is actively working on some sort of mapping solution. In the past few years, Apple has acquired two mapping companies Placebase and Poly9,” Kim reports. “The company has also been actively recruiting for job applicants with navigation software experience and has even revealed work on a future crowds-sourced traffic database.”
Kim reports, “Now, a look at the legal disclaimers found in iOS 5 reveal a new section called ‘Map Data.’ This section lists licenses from an extensive number of third party companies that provide mapping data and related services.”
Much more in the full article here.
You reap what you sow, Eric.
I hope Apple comes out with its own mapping solution that’s more intuitive to use than Google’s. At times using Google maps on my iPhone & iPad is an exercise in frustration. I like Apple’s simplicity. Google has a tendency to make things that are a disaster in UI terms. Elegance is a byword for Apple. Shiteous is what describes Google best.
Apple will be working a specialized use of mapping technology I’m sure. They aren’t going duplicate the Mapquest/google model.
thank gosh. google maps barely does the job.
You’re welcome. 😉
He is not Welcome, he is Shinolashow.
“He is not Welcome, he is Shinolashow.” —- and don’t call me Shirly! 🙂
Transit routes & schedules on Google Maps is excellent, I use it daily on my iPhone.
I love Apple when they get pissed.
oops.. pissed off. I mean.. Cheers 😀
They are pretty great when they are pissed too. I’ve heard that’s how the iPad was conceived!
Mapping is one of the many areas that Apple is putting years of research and development into. I don’t think they are going to release anything soon just to replace Google Maps on iOS devices. More likely, Apple will wait to release any mapping software until the R&D teams come up with truly innovative mapping technology that is fundamentally better than what competitors can immediately offer.
Apple wrote the Maps app on the iPhone. Google just supplies the data. So you have a right to be pissed at Apple on this one, not Google.
Quite honestly if the underlying data supplied by Google is lacking in the presentation layer I don’t think Apple will be able to do very much to improve upon it. If Apple develops its own mapping technology, it will be able to integrate it better into Apple designed map apps which should not result in the sometimes abortion of a navigation app that depends on data supplied by Google.
Mapping has always been a hole in Apples software lineup. There was never anything as good as MS Streets and Trips on the Mac (boy, I hated typing that). When Apple switched to the Intel processor I was hoping there would be an emulation mode that let Streets & Trips run under OS X. Not to be. Hope springs eternal.
Web based solutions are only useful when you can connect. Freestanding mapping software can be a real boon. If Apple does plug the gap, it will be better than anyone.
It really annoys me that you can’t get a scale bar on the iPhone Maps app, so you can’t judge the distance from one place to another. Unless I’ve been missing something?
I wish you could turn on traffic for the freeways only, (I think other places around the world call them thruways, autobahns, . . . ) it makes it hard to see where you are going when everything is red, yellow, green.
You know, the way it was with the first iPhone iOS.
I love the way the iphone/ipad maps work. I do not any complaints.