Motorola ad slams Apple's iOS 6 Maps as 'iLost' - Page 3

Um, you do know there's a world beyond your sea-to shining-sea...

And Apple Maps ain't so hot for folks there. For those with passports (c30%), see for yourself...

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaHarder 

No Surprise... Apple looks to have seriously dropped the ball with their iOS 6 'Maps' app so competitors are quite justified in pointing it out (Apple sure would if the situation were reversed).
Google Maps worked great, and this looks to be a case of a company (Apple) placing silly 'politics' ahead of user experience and one can only hope that they fix things quickly.

Why would you "hope they fix things quickly"? You only post in sheer giddiness whenever there's a negative story about Apple. I don't even recall a single positive post of yours, or when you didn't jump in to kick the company or spread FUD whenevr the opportunity arose. So tell me, why bother with the bullshit rhetoric of pretending you're not foaming at the mouth in giddiness when this kind of thing happens? Everyone on this board knows you by now, and your schitck is beyond old. You despise Apple and its producsts yet you always "hope" for them to get better. No doubt you've never even used maps in iOS6 but couldn't help typing up that lazy copy and paste job of a post. Get a life. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by softeky 

I live in Brooklyn, NY and the result I get (the same as in the above picture) on iOS 6 is also in Brooklyn. This looks to me like a correct search result. I will try the same search tonight when I am in Manhattan and see if Apple is taking my current location for clues to how to complete the incomplete search request used as the test.
When I use a complete search request:
315 e 15th st manhattan ny
I get the same result as the Razr
I seem to recall in the early days of Google maps, leaving out a comma before the "ny" would result in an incorrect location. Building a maps database from scratch is a huge undertaking. Apple have hit the mark running, I'm sure they will address (pun intended) these kinds of issues as they are brought to their attention. Having said that, I'm not sure Apple's returned result is incorrect as specified.

It's interesting, because I used the web on my laptop to Google the next street over in Brooklyn 315 E16th and sometimes I would get Manhattan, and sometimes I would get Brooklyn. Not sure how Google determines which location to use, but this is certainly an issue of cherry picking an extreme case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbinger 

You don't see the correlation ...

 

You're either playing dumb or you really are. Not my problem either way.

So you can't explain why Apple would be prevented from negotiating to use Google turn-by-turn by the API's or TOS? With that said you are correct that it's not your problem.

i'm sure its not a deliberate plan to discredit and embarass scott forstall.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasparilla 

 

Actually Google payed Apple for this (Apple wrote the original Map App, it just used Google's data as a source) - as Google got the user data which is what is valuable to them.

Are you sure about that?

We are happy to incorporate your map content in Google's services at no cost to your organization, but we generally do not pay for the content types we welcome through Google's Map Content Partner programs.

http://support.google.com/mapcontentpartners/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=143979

So in other words, once Google changed their policy to monetize their Maps by charging for access to large volume users, they were expecting to get paid for their data, while mining the data that was being provided to them for free. This is what is driving other geo-location providers such as Yelp.

btw, this war was predicted months ago when Apple initially announced they were going away from using Google maps,

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/technology/apples-goes-head-to-head-with-google-over-mobile-maps.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www

It will be interesting to see how well Google can keep up with improving their data when they are no longer receiving Apple (or Yelp's) information, especially when Google derives somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of their location information from ios devices.

Quote:

Originally Posted by antkm1 

Functionally maybe, but it's debatable...Visually...not even close.

 

Here's a few examples between iOS 5 and iOS 6 Maps:

 

iOS 5 Maps of Forbidden City

 

 

iOS 6 Version

Where did all the water go?

 

 

 

iOS 5 Version of a typical intersection.

Notice the overlaid subway lines on the map?

Notice the plans of the subway exits?

Notice all the building data?

 

Here's the iOS 6 Verson.

Notice the one and only subway marker is not even in the right location.

No Building outlines

 

I'm using Beijing as the example because I travel there 6mos. of the year and if I can't see anything on the maps, then I can't get around.

I live otherwise where my profile states and it's not better there either.

 

I understand this is Gen 1 of Maps, but not everyone ONLY uses maps for driving and turn-by-turn.

many of us use maps for information and exploration.  not just blindly follow GPS telling us how to get someplace.

I use maps so I can learn where things are and only use them for reference.  These new maps provide nothing useful for many.

 

I'm sure eveyone has seen this site already.

http://theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com/

Actually, the water is there. It's just not been colored blue, but you probably know that since you selectively zoomed to not even include the water in the iOS shot. Hopefully, Apple will learn to color the lake areas in blue so that you don't walk into the lakes when you are walking blindly forward with all of your attention directed at your maps program.

As far as the transit apps, I have seen an interesting thing ... Apple is using a lot of location information to determine what to put on the map. When you get to the routing page, if you choose walking or transit, it brings up a list of apps that provide the mapping information. Once you choose that app, it becomes the default app for providing that information once you choose your mode of transportation. This is how Apple is working on bringing other partners into their mapping strategy ... unlike Google that looks to control everything and gather information from their partners while charging them for access to their data.

In this case, I would think that if there is a local provider for transit information in Beijing, once you go to the routing page, you would get more information.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosstheboss 

Um, you do know there's a world beyond your sea-to shining-sea...

 

And Apple Maps ain't so hot for folks there. For those with passports (c30%), see for yourself...

Actually, I have seen reports from some countries praising the accuracy of the ios maps to the Google maps. It all depends on whether OpenStreetMaps has done a good job of mapping the local area. Like it or not, Google is not the dominant map everywhere in the world.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaelian 


People buy general-purpose products like smartphones for lots of different reasons. I, for example, have absolutely no use for most of the functionality on my iPhone beyond its GPS and being an iOS developer. Had it not been for the extremely good GPS coupled with Google's extremely reliable maps and I would have probably never cared about the Apple ecosystem at all, so you can pretty much say that Google Maps coupled with Apple's GPS implementation essentially sold me a MacBook Pro, an iMac, an iPhone, two iPads, and plenty of accessories and peripherals, and now that the other phone makers have GPS implementations that can match Apple's, Apple ditches Google's reliable map data, so objectively speaking, the only things keeping me attached to their ecosystem at this point are the App Store potential and my hardware investment.
Essentially, if smartphones didn't have GPSes, I would not buy them, as the old early-2000 dumb phones with monochrome low-res LCDs and reflective electroluminescent backgrounds were perfect for me, especially the clamshells and slide phones.

Well, I certainly hope that you keep your geolocation down so that you don't have to start paying Google for your usage of their location data.

http://blog.programmableweb.com/2011/10/27/google-maps-usage-fees-how-many-developers-will-have-to-pay/

With Apple moving off of Google Maps though, I highly doubt you will hit those numbers, since Apple ios users are much heavier users of maps than Android users.

So can anyone guess why Google had to use Motorola to launch this attack rather than allowing Samsung to roll it into their attack ads?

Google Maps Navigation Mode not working on latest Samsung Galaxy S3 (Android Flagship Device)

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/maps/IlJDfMkgl3U

Google's dog can gloat all they want. Unfortunately google lost a lot more and it's only going to get worse for the time being.

They lost 100M users feeding them their precious, precious data. They lost all data from 3rd party apps that integrated maps data as well since those all now use Apple's map system.  There will probably be another 100M users switched over to iOS6 in a weeks time. 

Meanwhile, Moto will probably be lucky to sell 10K more Droid phones, lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireland 

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he's right. Apple did drop the ball with Maps in iOS 6.

Yes, they did, but there are millions of users out there already and the majority are probably using Maps. I think unless Google manages to capitalize on this pronto, we can safely say (at some future date) that they are the ones that dropped the ball.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beg_ne 

Google's dog can gloat all they want. Unfortunately google lost a lot more and it's only going to get worse for the time being.

 

They lost 100M users feeding them their precious, precious data. They lost all data from 3rd party apps that integrated maps data as well since those all now use Apple's map system.  There will probably be another 100M users switched over to iOS6 in a weeks time. 

 

Meanwhile, Moto will probably be lucky to sell 10K more Droid phones, lol.

No, they didn't. Some are using maps.google.com (admittedly not the same). Furthermore, they are working on releasing a standalone app that may in fact give them greater control.

What iOS Maps does is provide a competitor with critical mass. This is good, healthy competition that benefit all of us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by elehcdn 

So can anyone guess why Google had to use Motorola to launch this attack rather than allowing Samsung to roll it into their attack ads?

 

Google Maps Navigation Mode not working on latest Samsung Galaxy S3 (Android Flagship Device)

 

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/maps/IlJDfMkgl3U

You're being very misleading, and in fact downright dishonest. Or perhaps you're strictly a headline surfer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbinger 

To be fair, Apple has done it too. Remember that they based a whole campaign on mocking Microsoft?

Their campaign was about a PC.  They never said what OS it was.  They certainly didn't show disparate screen shots that purported to be the highest expectation.  I think anyone would agree, whether or not you feel Apple was using dirty marketing, that this goes above and beyond on the scum scale.

I don't understand why people think Google Maps is so perfect.  Useful, definitely...good, again definitely yes...but free from frequent errors, never. I have been directed to the wrong location on many occasions by Google.  My favorite is Eldorado Mazda in McKinney Texas.  Google maps locates it several miles down the interstate and on the wrong side.  But here's the funny part, if you Google "Eldorado Mazda McKinney Texas", you find that Eldorado Mazda comes up in the paid listings!  Google hasn't got the right location for somebody that is paying them for the advertisement!  

Oh yeah, forgot to mention IOS maps locates Eldorado Mazda correctly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaelian 


My phone is almost a year old, it was a pre-ordered iPhone 4S and is still running iOS 5.1.1 because I saw what was to come during the iOS beta, so I'm not affected. For now it works for me; once it goes below of my acceptance threshold I will re-evaluate my options.

Why do people believe not upgrading makes you sound so brilliant? You don't need to be brilliant to realize that, if you really are dumb enough to get lost using iOS Maps, you can still use maps.google.com. Some might whine about not getting transit info. Well, first of all, transit info for many major cities is available via apps (often more reliable). Second, knowing the next bus is coming at 5:16 instead of within the next 5 minutes is really nothing to be smug about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by diplication 

I don't understand why people think Google Maps is so perfect.  Useful, definitely...good, again definitely yes...but free from frequent errors, never. I have been directed to the wrong location on many occasions by Google.  My favorite is Eldorado Mazda in McKinney Texas.  Google maps locates it several miles down the interstate and on the wrong side.  But here's the funny part, if you Google "Eldorado Mazda McKinney Texas", you find that Eldorado Mazda comes up in the paid listings!  Google hasn't got the right location for somebody that is paying them for the advertisement!  

 

Oh yeah, forgot to mention IOS maps locates Eldorado Mazda correctly.

There are many more!

Let's not forget that Google thinks it's cute to direct users to "kayak" across oceans. Those who are whining that maps.google.com is not good enough and cannot figure out when the next bus is coming without Google maps will indeed believe paddling is a necessity.

But, to be fair, iOS Maps have quite a few more boo-boos. So it is humble pie day for their mapping team. I bet you, though, this is a calculated risk rather than a case of dropping the ball.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbinger 

The world is large and mapping it is indeed tough. But Apple didn't do this from scratch. They purchased a number of companies and are licensing data from other companies. This is not to slight what Apple has accomplished. Just getting the facts straight ...

Oh, that's not news to me. They've also licensed data from Tom Tom (who is distancing themselves from this debacle). The way I see it, this is Apple's app and is at version 1. I'm very impressed with this initial release but it clearly has a lot of room for improvement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasparilla 

 

Actually Google payed Apple for this (Apple wrote the original Map App, it just used Google's data as a source) - as Google got the user data which is what is valuable to them.

That would be interesting. Any source? I've read the opposite. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phone-UI-Guy 

Interesting that the address typed into the two phones is different. If you are going to do a side by side, type the same address into each phone. Morons...

I think they have. It's the screen result addresses that are so different isn't it?.

Anyone else surprised Apple hasn't instantly fixed this specific mistake on "315 e 15th st ny" ? I just tried it on my iPhone 5 and it was still showing the wrong address. Once Apple fixes it, the advertisement doesn't even make sense any more. Not that Motorola is really threatening any iPhone sales with this but still.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mac_dog 

hey ai. why not stick to one layout? i prefer the old one. the new one sucks.

I absolutely agree  .... a white background with black fonts on a 24"  imac is extremely hard on these eyes .... thank God we at least can go to comments to get the old, more pleasing format.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireland 

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he's right. Apple did drop the ball with Maps in iOS 6. I think so. Loren Bricther thinks so. A lot of people think so. Apple is capable of making mistakes, you know. They should have worked on Maps for another year and added it to iOS 7 instead. And they should have also worked out a deal with big G to licence Street View from them for at least another few years.

Every time Apple introduces a "new concept" and drops some legacy stuff we get the same tired old comments from the same usual suspects... DaHarder and the rest are so used to looking backward they forgot  how to look ahead. We heard it over the loss of floppy discs ... the intro of usb only ... loss of cd etc. etc. ......  It's true that Apple maps is a long way from Google  ... for now, but the fastest way to improve a crowd source data base is to get it in the hands of the maximum amount of people possible in the fastest time possible and 5 million sold in the first weekend tells me at least, that once again, Apple is on the right track. It's just too bad that we have to continually observe the lack of vision that DH and others seem to always possess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbinger 

You're being very misleading, and in fact downright dishonest. Or perhaps you're strictly a headline surfer.

Did you follow the link? It goes directly to a Google users forum with Galaxy S3 users complaining about the issue. There is no headline there ... it is the forum header for a Google support forum.