Google Maps Easter egg shows Android mascot urinating on Apple logo [updated]

Posted:
in General Discussion edited November 2015
An unknown person has inserted an Easter egg image into Google Maps, depicting the mascot for the Android operating system urinating on an Apple logo, and is now gaining attention across the Internet.




The image was discovered by Team Android and can be found near the Soan River south of Rawalpindi in Pakistan when using the standard Map view. It's not clear whether it was inserted by someone within the Google Maps team or an outsider who used a crowdsourced mapping tool. In any case, Google has yet to remove the content.

The graphic is a sendoff of a common bootleg Calvin & Hobbes image, showing Calvin urinating on whatever the bootleg's creator's doesn't like.

The rivalry between Apple and Google fans can sometimes be intense, particularly when it comes to smartphones. On April 17, two men stabbed each other with beer bottles is an argument over whether iPhones or Android devices were superior.

More attention has been drawn to the Apple versus Google battle in recent days because of Friday's launch of the Apple Watch. The product is dominating technology news, and in some cases Google itself has shot back, for instance by announcing more features for its Android Wear platform. Wear-based smartwatches could potentially be iPhone-compatible in the near future.

Update: The image has been removed. In a later statement to the Washington Post, Google said that the the content was added by an outside person. The company offers a tool called Map Maker which lets third parties keep Maps current -- normally reviews by other users and a moderation team prevent offensive graphics from going live, but the company has sometimes been accused of being lax.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 80
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Android fans also have a high level of class. It's always impressive to see.
  • Reply 2 of 80
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,080member

    Already gone...

     

    LEAD Technologies Inc. V1.01

  • Reply 3 of 80
    larz2112larz2112 Posts: 291member

    In other breaking news... I yawned a few seconds ago.

  • Reply 4 of 80
    I didn't know that androids needed to urinate.
  • Reply 5 of 80
    prolineproline Posts: 222member
    Unlikely that anyone of consequence at Google knew about this. Time to move along.
  • Reply 6 of 80
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,056member

  • Reply 7 of 80
    proline wrote: »
    Unlikely that anyone of consequence at Google knew about this. Time to move along.

    Yikes if what you say is true - that anyone can hack into the code for google maps and insert code like this - doesn't that speak volumes for their security at Google?
  • Reply 8 of 80
    I'd be pissed too if i was selling 80% of the phones and only making 2% of the profit.
  • Reply 9 of 80
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    An unknown person has inserted an Easter egg image into Google Maps, depicting the mascot for the Android operating system urinating on an Apple logo, and is now gaining attention across the Internet.

    The <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/33°30'52.5"N+73°03'33.2"E/@33.5169848,73.0597719,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0?hl=en">image</a> was <a href="http://www.teamandroid.com/2015/04/24/android-pissing-apple-google-maps/">discovered</a> by <em>Team Android</em> and can be found near the Soan River south of Rawalpindi in Pakistan when using the standard Map view. It's not clear whether it was inserted by someone within the Google Maps team or an outsider who used a crowdsourced mapping tool. In any case, Google has yet to remove the content
    LOL! Everywhere's a practical joker . . .

    Anyway, did you (AI author) actually check to see if it was still there before saying it was? It was supposedly removed several hours ago.

    As Marvin mentioned earlier, the change was a user submitted one done with Google Map Maker, not a Google Maps Team member. The Guardian had a better article to reference odd unknown blog commenter linked by AI
    http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/24/google-maps-hides-an-image-of-the-android-robot-pissing-on-apple

    This second user edit, since removed, is even funnier.
    700
  • Reply 10 of 80
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    john galt wrote: »
    I didn't know that androids needed to urinate.
    Oil change. . .
  • Reply 11 of 80
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member

    Even fandroids can't come up with original ideas...

     

  • Reply 12 of 80
    Stay classy, Mountain View. Apple's easter eggs usually just have something cool, or at worst poke fun at Sony.
  • Reply 13 of 80
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Well if that doesn't make me sick the fact Google maps zooms in and out every time I try to move the map with an Apple magic Mouse sure does. Funny thing is Google seem to infer this is a problem with the mouse even though I use the same mouse with other maps, 3D software and so on with no such issue. Deliberate maybe?
  • Reply 14 of 80
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
  • Reply 16 of 80
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Well if that doesn't make me sick the fact Google maps zooms in and out every time I try to move the map with an Apple magic Mouse sure does. Funny thing is Google seem to infer this is a problem with the mouse even though I use the same mouse with other maps, 3D software and so on with no such issue. Deliberate maybe?
    Nope, unintentional of course. Not just Google Maps either as OpenStreetMap can have the same problem. It's pretty much due to the way the Magic Mouse works. Try ScrollMaps for a fix. There's an extension for both Safari and Chrome.

    "Allow you to use two finger scroll on your Mac trackpad in Google Maps.
    Install ScrollMaps and you can use two-finger scroll in Google Maps™. Now works in the redesigned Google Maps™ too.

    It's designed for Mac trackpads but because of the simple mechanism, it should work on all trackpads, or even a mouse with 2D scroll balls. To zoom in the maps, use Cmd-scroll. Pinch gestures does not work because Chrome does not expose it to extensions. Inertial Scrolling works on the Mac, and other operating systems that supports it natively. There are additional options in the options page, together with a small embedded map to try out different configurations. "
  • Reply 17 of 80
    Well if that doesn't make me sick the fact Google maps zooms in and out every time I try to move the map with an Apple magic Mouse sure does. Funny thing is Google seem to infer this is a problem with the mouse even though I use the same mouse with other maps, 3D software and so on with no such issue. Deliberate maybe?

    More like Apple hardware is too good for Google crap. Look at Chrome-they can't be bothered to optimize it for OS X, so you get three hours less battery life on average.
  • Reply 18 of 80
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    gatorguy wrote: »
    Nope, unintentional of course. It's pretty much due to the way the Magic Mouse works. Try ScrollMaps for a fix. There's an extension for both Safari and Chrome.

    Good of you to leap in to defend Google.

    I have tried Scrollmaps, it doesn't work. I wouldn't put Chrome on a Mac (again).

    If it is the mouse why can every other mapping system work fine. How come the same mouse used to work with Google map, at some point this started, I have the same mouse ... I don't have the same version of Google maps ... you do the math.

    Sorry why am I replying! Sheesh ...
  • Reply 19 of 80
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    More like Apple hardware is too good for Google crap. Look at Chrome-they can't be bothered to optimize it for OS X, so you get three hours less battery life on average.

    I tried Chrome once and Little Snitch went haywire with all the attempts to talk back not to mention all the crap-ware that got installed without asking.
  • Reply 20 of 80
    oooh, somebody is gonna get stabbed over this.
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