The timing of the event is noteworthy, as it's less than a week before Apple is scheduled to hold its keynote address that will kick off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.
That's a pretty short media shelf-life. Just like how all CES news gets blown away by the yearly iPad announcement.
Save face? Google Maps is generally considered the best mapping solution around at present and most popular. I don't think save face works. There will always be an option for Google Maps on iOS in some form regardless. (especially given comments around deal renewals) It's possible TS could be right, but that doesn't make sense entirely either.
When a product line has sold over 300 million devices, that uses your mapping system.. and then decides to drop you. Its an absolutely HUGE concern.
If Apple dumps Google maps, Google will simply (more likely) release a stand alone Google Maps app for iOS..
I think Apple has a rule about not allowing apps that replicate the functionality of core iOS apps. I do however hope that iOS 6 with the new maps also allows one to switch to the maps engine of the users' choice like they do with search. I for one think it will be a while before Apple can release a map app that exceeds Google's in functionality especially the Street View and mass transit schedules, bus stops, etc.
Maybe we might luck out and Google will release a competent Google Maps app for iOS. I find the Apple-developed Maps included with iOS as lacking and frequently frustrating to use. Who knows -- maybe the iOS 6 Maps might finally be decent. I could care less about any gimmicks such as 3D though.
If Apple needs data I hope they make an easy way for users to contribute. I think it would be cool to be able to go somewhere with your phone and say, "Hey that don't have data here yet, let me contribute real quick". Next thing you know your contribution starts showing up in the mapping.
Just seems odd that there is not an easy way to contribute to maps with all the smart phones out there.
If its really good.. I'm sure a significant number of people will. I see it as win-win for Apple if Google releases a stand alone maps app for iOS. iOS users will have the best of both worlds. The free turn-by-turn navigation on Google Maps for Android has attracted a lot of people towards buying Android phones.
You wish. A stand alone app versus tight integration of iOS 6 Maps that Apple customizes will guarantee that Google Maps is sparsely used any where in the iOS Ecosystem, especially with advance 3D capabilities that will come with API access at no extra fees for Developers guarantees Google's days are numbered on iOS leaving Google to attempt a big splash on Android to make a push for Devs to expand capabilities and run a bunch of useless DROID ads.
Did Eric Schmidt attend another Apple Board of Directors Meeting?
Besides, 'maps' are an aside to the Smart Phone itself and rumor sites reporting it are not damaging Apple. If you're not gaga for Apple or anti-Apple, nobody is going to know. I can ask every single neighbor around me of this news and they'd be shocked and say (click link for better sound effect)...
I think Apple has a rule about not allowing apps that replicate the functionality of core iOS apps. I do however hope that iOS 6 with the new maps also allows one to switch to the maps engine of the users' choice like they do with search. I for one think it will be a while before Apple can release a map app that exceeds Google's in functionality especially the Street View and mass transit schedules, bus stops, etc.
Won't happen and wouldn't make sense. Apple introducing iOS Maps for version 6 will be the culmination of more than 5 years work and thus you'll more than likely see this integrated into OS X, as well, system-wide.
At the moment, I see the hyper-realistic 3D maps as a fun novelty, but not what I'd be relying on day-to-day.
I think an even more interesting thing is an article I saw a while back showing a prototype of an opposite approach by Apple, which is maps and directions simplified to just the simple lines needed to get from here to there. I mean NO extraneous detail. The kind of maps you draw yourself when someone asks you directions, with no unnecessary distractions.
There's a case to be made that that would provide as much added value as the other end.
Seems like they'll be doing both. Nothing's worse than trying to make sense of a map and it's got the hundreds of side streets and every freeway within 100 miles. I believed the patent called it a "Schematic" map. If Apple could pull off Schematics, 3D maps from C3, and turn-by-turn, that would be great. Integrate Siri with it ("Where's the nearest gas station along the way? OK, give me directions to that one.") would blow my mind.
What a shamefully cynical move, timing the announcement simply to 'me-first!' Apple.
This is why rumor sites are damaging to Apple. They give its competitors all the time in the world to react, pull some shit together, and claim 1st dibs on a concept.
Do you realize how many times Apple has done this? Try the last several years at GDC...
If Apple needs data I hope they make an easy way for users to contribute. I think it would be cool to be able to go somewhere with your phone and say, "Hey that don't have data here yet, let me contribute real quick". Next thing you know your contribution starts showing up in the mapping.
Just seems odd that there is not an easy way to contribute to maps with all the smart phones out there.
Map companies don't usually trust users to add to their map data. Too much chance for error. You can offer suggestions for improvement but you cannot actually change the data. OpenMap allows users to contribute but they recently had some problem with malicious vandalizing of their map data.
On a side note I heard that Google had at one time added fake cul-de-sacs to their map data to catch anyone stealing their data.
What a shamefully cynical move, timing the announcement simply to 'me-first!' Apple.
This is why rumor sites are damaging to Apple. They give its competitors all the time in the world to react, pull some shit together, and claim 1st dibs on a concept.
Hmm I wonder why competitors would claim 1st dibs on something..oh wait it's because they did it first. The first maps application was done by MapQuest some 16 years ago, not Google or Apple. Nor was speech recognition (Siri, Android voice recognition, etc...). Hell the first smartphone was some brick of a device by IBM in the 90's.
The only reason Apple "seems" to be first, is just for the very same reason you argue for them....marketing. Apple will put together a bunch of other common technologies/concepts and claim they are innovating, when really they are just presenting the technology that has been out for years in a pretty package.
I do believe Apple innovates, they put patents in for new technology every year, but you cannot claim that Apple is 1st on a concept like maps applications, because this technology has been around longer than iPhone or Android itself.
In this situation, Google simply beat Apple to the finish line. Doesn't mean that the new iOS maps is gonna be worse or better. Just means they didn't do it first. Google has had 3-D views on Google Maps for a while now. It's not an innovation, its a reproduction in a different form. Which is fine. I am a software engineer for a living. The same functionality can be done a million different ways..as the latest Google v Oracle case has shown. If two different implementations perform the same function, you cannot claim they are the same, because the underlying code that makes it work is different.
In my opinion, it's not who does it first, it's who does it better. I think at the end of the day, the success of either Google Maps or iOS Maps is going to be a subjective decision.
It's entirely possible that this is the new iOS Maps and not an Apple solution.
You really think that if Google was doing anything related to iOS maps as THE maps solutions Apple would allow them to be the ones to announce it independently rather than having them demo at WWDC what they worked on with Apple.
That would be a big 'when pigs fly in their icy hell' no.
My gut is telling me that this announcement isn't a fully finished product but is at the sketches and mock up stages put together very quickly after hearing the rumors that not only is Apple dropping their licensing of Google's maps database (which they would already know by now) but adding 3d. It will release 'later this year' because Google needs to actually make it and the announcement is just so they can say they did it first and didn't copy Apple, although anyone with a clue can read that they copied the rumors about what Apple is doing.
Basically a repeat of all the companies that tried to beat Apple to the punch on releasing a tablet after the heavy rumors that Apple was about to came about. But not a single one of those tablets was real and all were due to come out later in the year and some of them never did after they saw the first iPad.
If Apple dumps Google maps, Google will simply (more likely) release a stand alone Google Maps app for iOS..
They could probably do that anyway. And if they wanted include features they didn't let Apple have access to.
But I suspect they won't, at least not with the added features. They would want folks forced to go to the web version to get around Apple's data restrictions.
You really think that if Google was doing anything related to iOS maps as THE maps solutions Apple would allow them to be the ones to announce it independently rather than having them demo at WWDC what they worked on with Apple.
Yes. It's a Google property; they can do whatever they want with it. Who says they would have worked on it with Apple? They hate each other. Apple's Maps app is a (better) terminal interface for the Google APIs. The back end changes all the time, independent of what Apple adds. This would just be another example of that.
Having said that, I still hope that Apple's maps are Apple's maps, but it's not implausible to think it's still Google if they're doing something like that, too.
Comments
I would want to use it. Especially if they integrate latitude and offer the same features that have been missing in iOS that are in android
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
The timing of the event is noteworthy, as it's less than a week before Apple is scheduled to hold its keynote address that will kick off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.
That's a pretty short media shelf-life. Just like how all CES news gets blown away by the yearly iPad announcement.
I would want to use it. Especially if they integrate latitude and offer the same features that have been missing in iOS that are in android
Quote:
Originally Posted by thataveragejoe
Save face? Google Maps is generally considered the best mapping solution around at present and most popular. I don't think save face works. There will always be an option for Google Maps on iOS in some form regardless. (especially given comments around deal renewals) It's possible TS could be right, but that doesn't make sense entirely either.
When a product line has sold over 300 million devices, that uses your mapping system.. and then decides to drop you. Its an absolutely HUGE concern.
There's simply no way to spin that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wurm5150
If Apple dumps Google maps, Google will simply (more likely) release a stand alone Google Maps app for iOS..
I think Apple has a rule about not allowing apps that replicate the functionality of core iOS apps. I do however hope that iOS 6 with the new maps also allows one to switch to the maps engine of the users' choice like they do with search. I for one think it will be a while before Apple can release a map app that exceeds Google's in functionality especially the Street View and mass transit schedules, bus stops, etc.
Maybe we might luck out and Google will release a competent Google Maps app for iOS. I find the Apple-developed Maps included with iOS as lacking and frequently frustrating to use. Who knows -- maybe the iOS 6 Maps might finally be decent. I could care less about any gimmicks such as 3D though.
If Apple needs data I hope they make an easy way for users to contribute. I think it would be cool to be able to go somewhere with your phone and say, "Hey that don't have data here yet, let me contribute real quick". Next thing you know your contribution starts showing up in the mapping.
Just seems odd that there is not an easy way to contribute to maps with all the smart phones out there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wurm5150
If its really good.. I'm sure a significant number of people will. I see it as win-win for Apple if Google releases a stand alone maps app for iOS. iOS users will have the best of both worlds. The free turn-by-turn navigation on Google Maps for Android has attracted a lot of people towards buying Android phones.
You wish. A stand alone app versus tight integration of iOS 6 Maps that Apple customizes will guarantee that Google Maps is sparsely used any where in the iOS Ecosystem, especially with advance 3D capabilities that will come with API access at no extra fees for Developers guarantees Google's days are numbered on iOS leaving Google to attempt a big splash on Android to make a push for Devs to expand capabilities and run a bunch of useless DROID ads.
Did Eric Schmidt attend another Apple Board of Directors Meeting?
Besides, 'maps' are an aside to the Smart Phone itself and rumor sites reporting it are not damaging Apple. If you're not gaga for Apple or anti-Apple, nobody is going to know. I can ask every single neighbor around me of this news and they'd be shocked and say (click link for better sound effect)...
WHHHHHHHHHUH?
/
Sorry E-Trade baby...
/
/
/
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
I think Apple has a rule about not allowing apps that replicate the functionality of core iOS apps. I do however hope that iOS 6 with the new maps also allows one to switch to the maps engine of the users' choice like they do with search. I for one think it will be a while before Apple can release a map app that exceeds Google's in functionality especially the Street View and mass transit schedules, bus stops, etc.
Won't happen and wouldn't make sense. Apple introducing iOS Maps for version 6 will be the culmination of more than 5 years work and thus you'll more than likely see this integrated into OS X, as well, system-wide.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GQB
At the moment, I see the hyper-realistic 3D maps as a fun novelty, but not what I'd be relying on day-to-day.
I think an even more interesting thing is an article I saw a while back showing a prototype of an opposite approach by Apple, which is maps and directions simplified to just the simple lines needed to get from here to there. I mean NO extraneous detail. The kind of maps you draw yourself when someone asks you directions, with no unnecessary distractions.
There's a case to be made that that would provide as much added value as the other end.
Seems like they'll be doing both. Nothing's worse than trying to make sense of a map and it's got the hundreds of side streets and every freeway within 100 miles. I believed the patent called it a "Schematic" map. If Apple could pull off Schematics, 3D maps from C3, and turn-by-turn, that would be great. Integrate Siri with it ("Where's the nearest gas station along the way? OK, give me directions to that one.") would blow my mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slurpy
What a shamefully cynical move, timing the announcement simply to 'me-first!' Apple.
This is why rumor sites are damaging to Apple. They give its competitors all the time in the world to react, pull some shit together, and claim 1st dibs on a concept.
Do you realize how many times Apple has done this? Try the last several years at GDC...
Quote:
Originally Posted by redbarchetta
Do you realize how many times Apple has done this? Try the last several years at GDC...
The fact that I had to look up what that is might make you think it proves your point, but what does Apple have to do with game developers?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kozchris
If Apple needs data I hope they make an easy way for users to contribute. I think it would be cool to be able to go somewhere with your phone and say, "Hey that don't have data here yet, let me contribute real quick". Next thing you know your contribution starts showing up in the mapping.
Just seems odd that there is not an easy way to contribute to maps with all the smart phones out there.
Map companies don't usually trust users to add to their map data. Too much chance for error. You can offer suggestions for improvement but you cannot actually change the data. OpenMap allows users to contribute but they recently had some problem with malicious vandalizing of their map data.
On a side note I heard that Google had at one time added fake cul-de-sacs to their map data to catch anyone stealing their data.
So Google pulls together a last minute 3D maps announcement to try and pre-emptively deflate Apple's expected 3D maps announcement.
Kind of a transparently desperate move.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slurpy
What a shamefully cynical move, timing the announcement simply to 'me-first!' Apple.
This is why rumor sites are damaging to Apple. They give its competitors all the time in the world to react, pull some shit together, and claim 1st dibs on a concept.
Hmm I wonder why competitors would claim 1st dibs on something..oh wait it's because they did it first. The first maps application was done by MapQuest some 16 years ago, not Google or Apple. Nor was speech recognition (Siri, Android voice recognition, etc...). Hell the first smartphone was some brick of a device by IBM in the 90's.
The only reason Apple "seems" to be first, is just for the very same reason you argue for them....marketing. Apple will put together a bunch of other common technologies/concepts and claim they are innovating, when really they are just presenting the technology that has been out for years in a pretty package.
I do believe Apple innovates, they put patents in for new technology every year, but you cannot claim that Apple is 1st on a concept like maps applications, because this technology has been around longer than iPhone or Android itself.
In this situation, Google simply beat Apple to the finish line. Doesn't mean that the new iOS maps is gonna be worse or better. Just means they didn't do it first. Google has had 3-D views on Google Maps for a while now. It's not an innovation, its a reproduction in a different form. Which is fine. I am a software engineer for a living. The same functionality can be done a million different ways..as the latest Google v Oracle case has shown. If two different implementations perform the same function, you cannot claim they are the same, because the underlying code that makes it work is different.
In my opinion, it's not who does it first, it's who does it better. I think at the end of the day, the success of either Google Maps or iOS Maps is going to be a subjective decision.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
It's entirely possible that this is the new iOS Maps and not an Apple solution.
You really think that if Google was doing anything related to iOS maps as THE maps solutions Apple would allow them to be the ones to announce it independently rather than having them demo at WWDC what they worked on with Apple.
That would be a big 'when pigs fly in their icy hell' no.
My gut is telling me that this announcement isn't a fully finished product but is at the sketches and mock up stages put together very quickly after hearing the rumors that not only is Apple dropping their licensing of Google's maps database (which they would already know by now) but adding 3d. It will release 'later this year' because Google needs to actually make it and the announcement is just so they can say they did it first and didn't copy Apple, although anyone with a clue can read that they copied the rumors about what Apple is doing.
Basically a repeat of all the companies that tried to beat Apple to the punch on releasing a tablet after the heavy rumors that Apple was about to came about. But not a single one of those tablets was real and all were due to come out later in the year and some of them never did after they saw the first iPad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
I'm not sure if the picture is supposed to be a hint, but if it is ... maybe they are finally merging Google earth and google maps?
I think they are going to announce something like that.
but I question if they would have ever done it if not for the rumors about Apple going to their own maps database and in 3D
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wurm5150
If Apple dumps Google maps, Google will simply (more likely) release a stand alone Google Maps app for iOS..
They could probably do that anyway. And if they wanted include features they didn't let Apple have access to.
But I suspect they won't, at least not with the added features. They would want folks forced to go to the web version to get around Apple's data restrictions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlituna
You really think that if Google was doing anything related to iOS maps as THE maps solutions Apple would allow them to be the ones to announce it independently rather than having them demo at WWDC what they worked on with Apple.
Yes. It's a Google property; they can do whatever they want with it. Who says they would have worked on it with Apple? They hate each other. Apple's Maps app is a (better) terminal interface for the Google APIs. The back end changes all the time, independent of what Apple adds. This would just be another example of that.
Having said that, I still hope that Apple's maps are Apple's maps, but it's not implausible to think it's still Google if they're doing something like that, too.