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Apple Still Seeking to 'Radically Improve' Maps for iOS

Pimp Lucious said:
As an Android and iOS user, I'm asking you to please put the crack pipe down. While I preferred WebOS notifications over both, Android notification implementation is head and shoulders above iOS. Don't get me wrong though. I love the sms popup box in Handcent on Android, but I can also respond instantly to the text within the box, never having to go into the app. I can also swipe through multiple messages from multiple people within that popup box, responding to each. iOS notifications simply serve to bring to a halt whatever you are doing, then forces you to locate and open various different apps to tend to those notifications.
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with iOS push messages i always see the latest scores from ESPN or the latest deal from groupon. with android there is so much crap when you swipe that half the time i say clear and don't even read it and miss the news i want to track.

but then i don't obsess over my phone like some people. i bought an inspire because it was cheap and does what my old 3GS did. a little more and a little less in some areas

the wifi pop ups might be annoying on iOS but so is on android when it's in such small size that i don't see it most times
 
Post-PC era?

I'm seeing/hearing the phrase post-PC device/era a bit too often for comfort. I like the iOS devices but for me the Mac is still by far the most important product that Apple make and I hope it continues for a long time to come. I look forward to seeing what they come up with for Maps though.
 
They should buy one of those dedicated GPS/Maps companies like Garmin or TomTom and integrate their software into iOS5. Microsoft will be doing it soon with OVI and i suspect Google will be doing something similar with their new vector based version of Google MAPS.

It will be a shame for apple to be left out of this game.
 
It needs offline maps. Without that, it's pointless on an iPod Touch, or any WiFi-only device. If I could save just one city at a time: say I'm going to London, and I will need a map of London all day, then I could save a given radius of a London map and it would be handy.

What I do now is take screenshots of maps while I still have WiFi, but that's totally annoying to do.
 
mandis said:
They should buy one of those dedicated GPS/Maps companies like Garmin or TomTom and integrate their software into iOS5. Microsoft will be doing it soon with OVI and i suspect Google will be doing something similar with their new vector based version of Google MAPS.

It will be a shame for apple to be left out of this game.
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TomTom or Garmin wouldn't help Apple that much. Garmin and TomTom both license either Teleatlas or Navteq for road data and they don't have access to much else since most of their devices are "offline" devices. Google has used Google Maps to build up a lot of data (they currently provide their own traffic on Google maps by curating all the data from mobile GMaps users, etc). A lot of people are missing out on the fact that "maps" that people expect today is a lot more than just road data. Getting access to road data is not that complicated for Apple to obtain. The rest is very complicated. Currently Google is the leader in this and there really isn't a close second (although Bing is doing some innovative things in this area).
 
gnasher729 said:
Why not? The USA for example has only 4 million miles of roads. A car with driver + passenger + some decent equipment should be able to map say 10 miles per hour, at a cost of $50 per hour.
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That's exactly what OpenStreetMap does. I know that it isn't widely used within the US (as most American hate OpenSource because it hurts the industry, see Firefox for instance: 70% marketshare in Europe, almost none in the US) but for example in some countries and parts of Europe OSM is much better than Nateq or Teleatlas maps as OSM users basically track *everything*, even the smallest trails which is just great for hiking or mountainbiking.
 
winterspan said:
Is this well-veiled sarcasm? If not, you guys are ridiculous.

1) Google does not own the mapping database they use
2) Even if they did, there are multiple geographic/mapping data providers
3) None of them obtained their data by having employees drive around in vehicles... That's an absurd suggestion
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Google absolutely owns their own map data. Only in the U.S. for now though.

http://searchengineland.com/no-more-teleatlas-google-goes-it-alone-for-maps-data-27584

The kicker? They obtained that data (or the vast majority of it) with street view cars. Nobody realized street view served a dual purpose: Pictures, but perhaps more importantly, the mapping data.
 
I'd love to see Apple displace Google Maps on their iOS devices. That would be a major blow to Google and a major win for Apple and their iAd product. The more you tie maps into adverts the more personalized those adverts become. The more successful marketing campaigns. Apple can take iAds to the next level. :cool:
 
The maps app is one of my most-used apps. Hope they can make it even better. Though I don't know how they would do it without building on google's data.
 
Maps are strategic

Apple is going to (probably already has) develop its own map data. Map data is a strategic resource and is increasingly used for competitive advantage.

At the moment, there are two leaders in high quality map data, Navteq and TeleAtlas. There are some smaller players with much lower quality and/or much more limited coverage but these two have mostly locked up the market for the last 10 years or more.

Navteq is owned by Nokia. Before they were bought by Nokia, Navteq pretty freely licensed their map data (for a huge price) and owned the navigation device market. In the last few years, they have been cutting off access to any company that they see as competing with either Navteq or its parent company Nokia in areas they want to own.

TeleAtlas is owned by TomTom. They are much more open to licensing their data but with the major restriction that their data can't be used for turn by turn navigation.

Google was licensing TeleAtlas data until fall 2009. At that point, they had developed their own data set (by driving the roads) enough that they could use it in Android. A month later, Maps 2 came out with turn by turn directions because Google was no longer restricted in their map use. The quality of the maps was and still is lower than the TeleAtlas data but Google owns it.

Google, too, is using its map data for its own competitive purposes. They won't license it for general use, only for use within Google products or add-ons.

Apple needs map data and is either going to have to buy it or create it themselves. It's possible that Apple could buy TomTom. They're only a $2Billion market cap so it's quite doable. Other than that, there is no map data set that Apple can rely on having access to.

Mapping and related applications is an area that has not really progressed much. Maps on a handheld are pretty similar to the printed maps of the last 500 years. Apple could do a lot with maps and it's encouraging to see signs that they are pursuing it.
 
BTW said:
I'd love to see Apple displace Google Maps on their iOS devices. That would be a major blow to Google and a major win for Apple and their iAd product. The more you tie maps into adverts the more personalized those adverts become. The more successful marketing campaigns. Apple can take iAds to the next level. :cool:
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Maps with iAds intrusions?

I'm glad some fans aren't calling the shots here...
 
BTW said:
I'd love to see Apple displace Google Maps on their iOS devices. That would be a major blow to Google and a major win for Apple and their iAd product. The more you tie maps into adverts the more personalized those adverts become. The more successful marketing campaigns. Apple can take iAds to the next level. :cool:
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This is great way to give the iPhone a single digit market share.
 
BTW said:
I'd love to see Apple displace Google Maps on their iOS devices. That would be a major blow to Google and a major win for Apple and their iAd product. The more you tie maps into adverts the more personalized those adverts become. The more successful marketing campaigns. Apple can take iAds to the next level. :cool:
Click to expand...

It would hardly affect Google that much since Apple (who writes the Maps application on iOS currently even though it uses Google services) doesn't really use any of the Maps services that Google uses to generate revenue. If Apple included Google Places, I would understand your argument. As it is, Apple provides such a basic set of maps features that Google really will not lose anything if Apple switches providers (or becomes the provider).
 
baryon said:
It needs offline maps. Without that, it's pointless on an iPod Touch, or any WiFi-only device. If I could save just one city at a time: say I'm going to London, and I will need a map of London all day, then I could save a given radius of a London map and it would be handy.

What I do now is take screenshots of maps while I still have WiFi, but that's totally annoying to do.
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Offline maps would take away income from the Cellular Providers. Also, putting a GPS in the Touch would take away from iPhone sales.

Both won't happen... :eek:
 
alent1234 said:
google maps itself is pretty crappy compared to Bing maps and some of the higher cost mapping solutions out there. google maps is hardly ever updated
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I agree. On a recent trip Google maps showed me roads that no longer existed and other street names which were clearly wrong whereas Apple maps app had the correct information.

I know I'm in Australia which may not be that important to Google, but Apple seems to care.

Also, the Streetview of my street is at least 3 years old as there are several newer buildings that don't show up.
 
I prefer iOS to Android, but I have to say that the built-in maps of Android absolutely trounce Apple's offering in every way (and I'd further suggest they're better than any GPS app you can currently buy).
 
baryon said:
It needs offline maps. Without that, it's pointless on an iPod Touch, or any WiFi-only device. If I could save just one city at a time: say I'm going to London, and I will need a map of London all day, then I could save a given radius of a London map and it would be handy.

What I do now is take screenshots of maps while I still have WiFi, but that's totally annoying to do.
Click to expand...

Yup - offline maps with the maps on iTunes allowing you to downlaod countries or cities of choice.

I was in NYC last year and had to use hotel wifi to get the map up before I walked out into the street. Was great with the GPS but offline maps with info updates for places etc would be fantastic
 
gkarris said:
Offline maps would take away income from the Cellular Providers. Also, putting a GPS in the Touch would take away from iPhone sales.

Both won't happen... :eek:
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Offline vector based maps are the norm for Nokia handsets that support Ovi Maps including all their Symbian handsets, some S40 featurephones and forthcoming Windows Phones. You can download entire countries to your phone which is great for using abroad with no data contract needed. Ovi Maps on Symbian^3 is leagues ahead of Google Maps on any platform.

IIRC part of the deal with Microsoft is to supplant Bing with Ovi Maps although that might just be on Nokia branded Windows Phones.
 
guys i am a new mac user i was wondering if these readings are any good?

Current capacity 5769 mah
design 5770mah
99%

macbook pro 7,1

16 weeks
cycles 9

source coconutbattery
 
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