C3 Technologies' 3D Maps Also Offer Street Views and Interior Views

[The Phazer]

I don't think Apple would replace Google Maps with an inferior product.

Lion has cured me of any such belief.

Many companies can provide mapping data. Google didn't invent maps you know! Presumably Apple will buy in mapping data and use the tech aquired from C3 and Placebase, along with any internally developed technologies, to create the services they will layer on top of this data.

Google didn't invent maps, but it did spend years building a street view database that nobody else has. And sure, Apple could absolutely build one. But they couldn't do it without anyone noticing all the cars driving down every street in multiple countries.

So we know they, nor anybody else, are doing it at the moment.

There's never going to be a commercially available database of business information like Google has either, as it's really impossible to build without owning the world's largest search engine too, so you give businesses a massive incentive to submit accurate and timely listings.

Is this anticompetitive? Well, it would be. If there was any indication that Google weren't perfectly happy to give it to Apple. Apple appear to just be wanting to cut off their nose to spite their face.

Phazer

 

[fxtech]

Looks cool! Now I can see inside a store before I go there.

Should save a lot of money at the local adult shop and peep show.

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This combined with a retina display on an iPad would be very nice.

Why would it need a retina display to be very nice? You realize the images/textures in the map database are likely much lower resolution than the display?

 

[Digitalclips]

I'm only looking forward to this as I hate using Google for anything now.

I'm even changing search engine to get away from them.

Google is a theif and the data mining devil.

I even removed the Google public DNS from my router.

 

[ThanksSteve]

A nice feature especially if you are visiting a new city and want a quick look at a historical site before arriving to see if it's worth planning time to go inside.

Not sure competing with Google Maps is worth it though. Let them spend the money on that and let Apple work on keeping the iPhone better than Android.

 

[Tarzanman]

Lion has cured me of any such belief.
Google didn't invent maps, but it did spend years building a street view database that nobody else has. And sure, Apple could absolutely build one. But they couldn't do it without anyone noticing all the cars driving down every street in multiple countries.

This is an interesting statement. Many of us have spent a lot of time explaining that Apple didn't invent the smart-phone, touchscreen, app store, multitouch, etc..... only to be told that "well, Apple was the first to innovate it into a device" (or some other confusing nonsense).

So with Apple's last 3 added features (notifications, voice recog, iCloud/iMessage) and rumored future features being items that other phones have had for years, it is hard to respect the credibility of people with that perspective.

Microsoft has Bing Maps. While it is certainly useable, it is demonstrably a lesser program that Google Maps. It will take Apple years for their in-house mapping program (if that is what they are building) to compete with Google's offerings.... even if they get access to the same pools of data that Google does.

 

[Digitalclips]

Lion has cured me of any such belief.



Google didn't invent maps, but it did spend years building a street view database that nobody else has. And sure, Apple could absolutely build one. But they couldn't do it without anyone noticing all the cars driving down every street in multiple countries.

So we know they, nor anybody else, are doing it at the moment.

There's never going to be a commercially available database of business information like Google has either, as it's really impossible to build without owning the world's largest search engine too, so you give businesses a massive incentive to submit accurate and timely listings.

Is this anticompetitive? Well, it would be. If there was any indication that Google weren't perfectly happy to give it to Apple. Apple appear to just be wanting to cut off their nose to spite their face.

Phazer

Stop talking this pills Google give you! Of course Apple can and will release a far superior mapping system soon. Why would they want to continue to use anything from that steaming pile of IP stealing, data mining, continuous beta releasing folks at Google?

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Why would it need a retina display to be very nice? You realize the images/textures in the map database are likely much lower resolution than the display?

That was the same argument many used against high definition TVs when they first became available. I am sure there is a 'law' somewhere that states 'The Resolutions of media will increase to match or surpass the highest resolution any display with in months of release of said display".

 

[powers74]

nice

This is going to be good.

 

[Albion80]

The C3 technology 3D thing is already in use at hitta.se (swedish yellow-pages + map service)

Go to:

http://www.hitta.se/LargeMap.aspx?var=stockholm

just press 3D on the top menu, and then use the zoom in / out at the bottom + the arrows on the side to spin it around, you can also tilt the map with the "luta karta" buttons.

 

[Oletros]

Stop talking this pills Google give you! Of course Apple can and will release a far superior mapping system soon. Why would they want to continue to use anything from that steaming pile of IP stealing, data mining, continuous beta releasing folks at Google?

And you're accusing others of taking some company pills?

Any argument about how to get all the street data needed for the street view?

 

[TheNewDude]

There has been no big improvements made to "Maps" on the iPhone. Small changes here and there, but nothing big. Android has had properly maps with navigation for years already.

Apple needs to improve here, there is no question.
Let's see if they can really do it the way people are expecting.

 

[DiamonDecoden]

Don't really care for 3d maps. Just add default turn by turn voice guided directions That to me is much more valuable and useful feature!

 

[acidfast7]

It's not Saab the auto manufacturer but Saab the defense & aerospace company. They're two different entities, or rather this Saab used to be the parent company of the automobile Saab but they sold it to GM in 1990.

Jag vet!

 

[AppleScruff1]

Stop talking this pills Google give you! Of course Apple can and will release a far superior mapping system soon. Why would they want to continue to use anything from that steaming pile of IP stealing, data mining, continuous beta releasing folks at Google?

Do the Apple pills taste better?

 

[KnightWRX]

There has been no big improvements made to "Maps" on the iPhone. Small changes here and there, but nothing big. Android has had properly maps with navigation for years already.

Apple needs to improve here, there is no question.
Let's see if they can really do it the way people are expecting.

They could improve Maps without all this. Maps is front-end technology, this is backend technology. All the features people want added to the Front-end can be done using Google's mapping service.

So frankly, it seems Apple is putting a lot of energy into the backend instead of the frontend.

 

[GorgonPhone]

looks like overkill... and they better make it run smooth at google's offering or it will be another fail.. hmm and how data intensive will this be?? at this rate i will stay with atnt for ever just to keep my unlimited data plan

 

[dashtekahe]

Do we get this on Mac or iPhone?

 

[GorgonPhone]

The C3 technology 3D thing is already in use at hitta.se (swedish yellow-pages + map service)

Go to:

http://www.hitta.se/LargeMap.aspx?var=stockholm

just press 3D on the top menu, and then use the zoom in / out at the bottom + the arrows on the side to spin it around, you can also tilt the map with the "luta karta" buttons.

just tried it and it failed... error loading a java component.. oh well

 

[dashtekahe]

The C3 technology 3D thing is already in use at hitta.se (swedish yellow-pages + map service)

Go to:

http://www.hitta.se/LargeMap.aspx?var=stockholm

just press 3D on the top menu, and then use the zoom in / out at the bottom + the arrows on the side to spin it around, you can also tilt the map with the "luta karta" buttons.

Yes, Thanks,It is amazing.I tried and it is very nice

 

[Schmitty11]

Hey there Big Brother

 

[mdelvecchio]

I think one of the flaws of iOS devices today is how it handles multi-tasking or rather actually closing an app that you aren't using any more. Most people don't even realize that they have like 50 items held in state in the background. These are all probably using a little RAM and/or processing power.

iOS' multitasking model is a feature, not a bug. you really don't want all those apps running active processes. not if you enjoy a battery.

as for the inactive apps in the app history list, no, they are not all using resources. the iOS model suspends the state of non active apps as soon as the system needs more resources than is available. the vast majority of those apps are frozen and consume no resources. when you load one up again it restores its state from disk.

 

[Trius]

But they couldn't do it without anyone noticing all the cars driving down every street in multiple countries.

So we know they, nor anybody else, are doing it at the moment.

You don't think that maybe there is a chance that if they were driving around they wouldn't have big Apple stickers on the sides of the cars? You think maybe they would look like just another car driving around? To say that just because we don't see a bunch of apple cars driving around means no one is doing it? That's funny. No one will EVER have a database to match googles?? How naive and short sighted some can be....

 

[Oletros]

You think maybe they would look like just another car driving around? To say that just because we don't see a bunch of apple cars driving around means no one is doing it? That's funny. No one will EVER have a database to match googles?? How naive and short sighted some can be....

No, if they are doing that imaging and data mining they won't be like the other cars with all the cameras, antennas, etc.

 

[daveydog]

I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself here. This is about backend technology to drive a mapping engine, not the frontend Maps application on iPhone and much less about navigation.

Well then why do we really care about this... I just want a built in nav that compares to the free google nav on android.... Didn't apple start buying mapping companies a few years ago? I think turn by turn nav is one of the most useful things to have on the phone...

 

[Oletros]

Didn't apple start buying mapping companies a few years ago? I think turn by turn nav is one of the most useful things to have on the phone...

But all the companies Apple has bought are imaging and layer companies, they can't make routing programs with them

 

[i hate phones]

does anyone actually know (fact not opinion) why google nav isn't on the iphone? is it apple? or google? or the fact that they can't work together?

there is conflicting info if you google it. some say google is keeping it to themselves, something else said since apple controls the maps app interface and google is just the backend its much more complicated to bring in google nav and they would have to work together to create it and used failed colaboration as the reason lattitude and google voice apps weren't great on the iphone.

and why can't apple let us choose a default nav app in settings somewhere so at least you can click on an address in safari and get actual navigation?