Apple bulking up iOS development team with navigation software experts

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 32
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    Emphasis mine.



    This caught my eye.



    Why does Apple want an iOS engineer developing distributed image processing software on a server cluster?



    Just what comprises distributed image processing?





    Does that imply:



    -- that the server is running iOS?

    -- that the server is ARM based?

    -- that the server resides in North Carolina?

    -- that the server resides in the back office of enterprise?

    -- that the server resides in the home?

    -- that the software will be used for Pro Apps, E.g. Final Cut, et al?

    -- that the software will be used by ProSumer Apps, e.g. iMovie, iPhoto. etc.?

    -- that Apple is planning on providing a high-volume image processing service.

    -- that Apple is planning on introducing an iDevice with increased image-creation capability?



    All sorts of interesting possibilities here -- ranging from ARM servers to iPhones, iPads and iPods.



    Just trying to keep up with the Jonses:



    Google Goggles

    Facebook Launches Face Recognition for Photos

    Microsoft PhotoSynth



    This is an audio processing example:

    Cloud based speech recognition



    The iPhone is packed with sensors.

    The camera is just one of them.

    I'm sure Apple wants to be able to sensor data from millions of iPhones, process that data and transform it into usable intelligence.
  • Reply 22 of 32
    jmmxjmmx Posts: 341member
    I think we should keep in mind what Apple (JObs I think) once said (paraphrased):



    "We urn away a lot of great ideas all the time."



    Therefore, if they are pursuing this, then they must feel it is very important.
  • Reply 23 of 32
    al_bundyal_bundy Posts: 1,525member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tkwlee View Post


    No street view any more, which is not a good news. Also many apps has to rewrite!



    they have street view



    last year the guy in charge of Bing Maps did a really nice presentation at TED conference with some cool features
  • Reply 24 of 32
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    Maybe this is more to do with the birth of some kind of Apple Maps in general rather than specifically driving software such as Tom Tom et al. If Apple were to enter this field their previous acquisitions such as Siri may make for a new and novel twist on the approach rather than just another Google Maps as Bing is.



    Apple just bought a maps company this year (or last year not sure). Can't remember the name.



    The iPhone maps app is embarrassing right now - it hasn't been updated for years, and it's made by their biggest competitor. It's a sure bet that it will be replaced as soon as that's technically possible, e.g. as soon as they have something that's at least as good as what they have now.



    The iPhone map looks really bad compared to the new version for Android of course, but this is Apple, they're going to shoot for something that is even better.



    Let's hope they can make it happen soon. I don't think there's much need for a "cloud" service for any of it - sure you have the map database on the servers, but that's nothing that a bog normal server couldn't handle - no need for a huge $1Bn data center.
  • Reply 25 of 32
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post


    Apple is increasingly becoming a mobile devices company.

    As devices become increasingly mobile, location awareness and the ability to intelligently use that information will become more important.

    Location affects advertising, entertainment, shopping, travel, weather...everything.



    Apple understands that location based services needs to become a core competency to have a successful mobile platform.



    +++



    Couldn't agree with this more. There's going to be GPS chips in everything. It's already stupid in many day to day situations that my MacBook Pro doesn't have GPS. Take Google maps - I hardly use this on my laptop as it's 100 times better on the iPad / iPhone. Because these know where I am.
  • Reply 26 of 32
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by al_bundy View Post


    they have street view



    last year the guy in charge of Bing Maps did a really nice presentation at TED conference with some cool features



    But their street view is for US only.

    Also Apple can use their own maps instead of relying on Google and Microsoft
  • Reply 27 of 32
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    I played with the map apps on the site -- they were pretty neat.



    The "mapping" quality was nothing special as maps are concerned -- MapQuest, Google, et al have better quality maps on the web.



    What was unique is that you could script overlays for the maps to present demographic data -- e.g. the median house income breakdown by political party for Pasadena.



    What Apple appeared to be buying was:

    -- basic mapping capability,

    -- scripting/overlay capability

    -- in place, contractual sources for demographic data



    Apple could provide these capabilities in an app, or use the maps, themselves, to sell, customize and report advertising.



    One thing you forgot:

    -- The people.



    Apple quite often buys companies for the people first and foremost - see PA Semi. Apple needs to build a maps app, so why not get a whole company that's already doing it, already has the basics, and - presumably - have excellent engineers to build on what they have.



    Now with other companies, that often backfires - everyone quits sooner or later. But Apple is an exciting company to work for, and Steve Jobs will personally make sure nobody important quits. You don't quit when you get a visit from Steve Jobs - it's always been that way, even from the early days. He'll convince you to stay. Benefits of having a RDF.
  • Reply 28 of 32
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    Apple should buy an Australian company called Nearmap (aka Ipernica) if they want to beat Google at their own game. http://www.nearmap.com/products/photomap-gallery



    They have a very innovative system using aerial photography where they can cover a city like Sydney in just six hours whereas a conventional approach by another company took 40 days.



    They photomapped 30,000 sq Km at 7cm resolution in just six weeks.
  • Reply 29 of 32
    glad they're doing something... I use my google turn by turn daily on my incredible, and I could't give it up... I can't see paying for something (as an app) that I get for free on a different device...
  • Reply 30 of 32
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nikster View Post


    One thing you forgot:

    -- The people.



    Apple quite often buys companies for the people first and foremost - see PA Semi. Apple needs to build a maps app, so why not get a whole company that's already doing it, already has the basics, and - presumably - have excellent engineers to build on what they have.



    Now with other companies, that often backfires - everyone quits sooner or later. But Apple is an exciting company to work for, and Steve Jobs will personally make sure nobody important quits. You don't quit when you get a visit from Steve Jobs - it's always been that way, even from the early days. He'll convince you to stay. Benefits of having a RDF.



    Yes, of course. I should have mentioned the people!



    Apple's purchase of FingerWorks is a good example of the advantage of getting the 'people" along with the IP.



    But that doesn't always work out. Especially PA Semi:



    P.A. Semi Chief Leaves Apple for Agnilux



    http://news.softpedia.com/news/P-A-S...x-137644.shtml



    and



    Understanding Agnilux, Google’s Latest Purchase



    http://www.thechromesource.com/under...test-purchase/
  • Reply 31 of 32
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nikster View Post


    +++



    Couldn't agree with this more. There's going to be GPS chips in everything. It's already stupid in many day to day situations that my MacBook Pro doesn't have GPS. Take Google maps - I hardly use this on my laptop as it's 100 times better on the iPad / iPhone. Because these know where I am.



    Do you use your Macbook outside much? If not, then having GPS in your macbook isn't of benefit. You need to be outside with a clear line of sight to the sky to get a GPS fix and not a great deal of people use their laptops outside.



    Snow Leopard features CoreLocation and get an estimate of your location based on wifi signals, and Google Maps usually gives a pretty accurate location fix in modern Webkit browsers. Seeing as GPS receivers are so small and cheap, I would like to see them built-in to all Macbooks too just for the hell of it, but in real world usage it's not going to be of great benefit.



    Secondly, from what I read, the GPS receiver in the iPhone isn't fast/effective without being near cell tower masts to get a quick location fix, so that may well me one of the main reasons for it not being included in the iPod touch (as the iPod touch doesn't have the hardware to receive signals from cell towers, getting a location fix would be slow). Also, Google Maps isn't a great deal of use without an internet connection, so GPS receiver wouldn't be very useful on an iPod touch with the built in apps.



    I predict and hope that this will change with the September 2011 iPod touch, as Google Maps now supports offline maps (as they have changed to vector drawn maps which are a tiny fraction of the size).
  • Reply 32 of 32
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    Emphasis mine.



    This caught my eye.



    Why does Apple want an iOS engineer developing distributed image processing software on a server cluster?



    It reads to me as Apple is looking at how to add seamless server based image processing to iOS apps. The trade off is bandwidth (moving the images back and forth) vs CPU (local processing). Ideally you would want an app to pick the best option based on the available resources.
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