Google Shows Off Upcoming Map Changes, Announces iPad App

[fivedots]

When was, maps Apple's turf?

Believe he meant iOS in general. Either way, I speculate that Apple never wanted to build a maps app. They wanted Google to build a better default app for iOS on their terms. Google wouldn't and Apple didn't want to ship a product without a default maps app, especially without a free and solid Google alternative in the app store, so they built their own. Google did not want to miss out on all of the data and advertising possibilities so they countered with their own app that follows the restrictions of any other app on iOS.

As I see it, Apple got exactly what they wanted. They don't need to have the best app, they just needed to make sure Google built one.

 

[dragje]

The new google maps looks impressive, there are no good arguments to state otherwise. But, fair enough, Google did had years of experience and is still years ahead of it's competitors, yes that includes Apple Maps.

 

[Renzatic]

Snip

LordVic laid it out perfectly. All you have to do...is read what he said.

 

[Xano]

wow,
on my iPhone 5 most used apps Search and Maps, soon MusicPlay and Hangout ...
Upsss!

 

[JAT]

Apple's maps are vectors, and far superior to google maps. You can infinitely zoom in and out and they have 3D all over the world where google only has it in a few cities.

I have that with my paper map. I just set it down and walk away to zoom out.

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Please enable external display and control. I want to use it with my Pioneer Appradio 2. Pleeeease.

I'm hoping ios7 gives far better in dash support. I just want smartphone navi on my car screen with touch control.

I just chose not to buy that since the apps I want onscreen can't get there. Bought a simple receiver instead.

 

[aggri1]

I wonder whether the desktop web Google Maps will be able to show grid lines finally? I don't believe this is possible yet (please correct me if it can!). Google Earth can do show a grid but sometimes the web maps are more convenient.

 

[unlinked]

I wasn't talking about android, I was talking about google maps, on the web, you know the product this MacRumors article is about?

You were comparing Google Maps and Apple Maps.
Does Apple have a maps product on the web?

 

[Renzatic]

I have that with my paper map. I just set it down and walk away to zoom out.

What I do is put my face really close to the map and pull my head away from it while making "bzzoooooo" noises.

...then, when I get so far back I can't make out any individual details, I'll turn my head to look at a globe I've placed conveniently off to the side.

 

[gotluck]

in before people who don't understand how google works... oh wait...

 

[fivedots]

What I do is put my face really close to the map and pull my head away from it while making "bzzoooooo" noises.

...then, when I get so far back I can't make out any individual details, I'll turn my head to look at a globe I've placed conveniently off to the side.

If you pinch your fingers in and out a foot or so from your face while doing this, it further adds to the experience.

 

[JAT]

Apple depends on Tom Tom and I doubt maps can compete with google in the future.

None of them are perfect. The example of a missing street in Google that I gave a couple pages back....well, it was on TomTom's map.

Overall I find Google to be better, barely.

 

[dolph0291]

just open up your maps on iOS. that should be enough proof.

i win.
you lose.

google wins map game.

bye.

over and out.

Since day 1 I have found Apple Maps to be much more accurate than Google Maps.

 

[unlinked]

Google sell that information to advertisers. Apple don't. Fact.

Citation needed.

 

[Dominicanyor]

Looking foward to check it out.

 

[Jibbajabba]

Well, in order to get to B maps app should know where the point B is in a first place. Google Maps knows way more points B than Apple Maps.

Apple maps still puts A, my house, 30 miles down the road in a field and still spells B completely wrong so I would never get there.

 

[Renzatic]

If you pinch your fingers in and out a foot or so from your face while doing this, it further adds to the experience.

So that's how you do it! I've been staying away from pinch to zoom all this time because it keep tearing up my maps.

 

[Saladinos]

i hate this "google sells your personal information argument"

because it's wrong.

what google does is a holy hell metric tonne of analytic of data.

it is this data that they sell. They do not sell personalize information that is traceable to you as an individual

Do you know why they don't? Because that practice is HIGHLY illegal in many countries. Canada for example, would outright ban Google and it's services if it were ever found violating that, with potential jailtime for executives found braeking that very strict law (http://www.priv.gc.ca/leg_c/leg_c_p_e.asp).

Want to know something else thats amazing. EVery company does this form of analytic behaviour in order to determine the best way of targetting you with advertisments and services.

They then sell this compounded data to 3rd parties for whatever reason they want.

But again. Your personal information is, and should never ever, be sold. And should you be able to prove otherwise, you should be reporting it to your authorities, especially if you're in a nation (again, such as Canada) with strong privacy legislation.

heck, Canada threatened to ban the entirety of Facebook from Canadian networks, as far as threatening zucckerberg with criminal indictment if Facebook didnt fix their privacy policy.

so please.. Can everyone drop this "they sell your information" misinformation. it's tiring

Google Does it. Apple does it. Mirosoft Does it. Your Credit Cards do it. Your banks do and so forth and so on. Heck, I have a few friends who work developing the software that actually comes through the petabytes of information collected by all these different sources to actually use it in any meaningful way

HAHAHAHA.

Do you even know who Google are?

In one high-profile recent example, Google were found to be collecting WiFi data from streetview cars (this is just the German case, there were cases all over the planet).

German regulators were furious when it was found that Google’s street car was unintentionally collecting email, photos, and passwords from its citizens’ unprotected Wi-Fi networks — something Hamburg-based regulator, Johannes Caspar, called “one of the biggest data-protection rules violations known.” Yet, regulators could only muster a financial hand slap of 145 euros, or about 0.005 percent of the search giant’s annual profits.

Yeah, that's totally going to scare Google in to never violating your privacy again. The German privacy regulator certainly thinks so:

"As long as violations of data protection laws are punishable by discount rates, the enforcement of data protection laws in a digital world with its high potential for abuse will be all but impossible," said Germany's commissioner for data protection and freedom of information Johannes Caspar after regulators fined Google close to the maximum amount for privacy violations.

In a totally unrelated case:

European regulators moved a step closer to penalizing Google for the way it handles user data after the search engine refused to change its privacy policy.

France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Britain said on Tuesday they began a process to decide if Google's policy introduced in March 2012 broke national laws.

Google consolidated 60 privacy policies into one last year and started combining data collected on individual users across its services, such as YouTube, Gmail and social network Google+. It gave the users no means to opt out.

Twenty-nine European data protection regulators began a joint enquiry as a result.

This kind of stuff happens all the time. Google don't want you to have any privacy. In their ideal world, they would know everything there is to know about you.

You can say, "oh, it's OK, Google would never do anything bad because that's illegal", but that's a stupendously naive way to treat your privacy. Especially with a company that's constantly testing the boundaries to collect even more data about you. We don't even know all the things they're tracking about us, and neither do the privacy regulators (or there wouldn't have been a problem with street view cars). You act like the law is totally cool with Google, when actually the reverse is true: we don't have laws that cover everything Google is doing, and they're doing more and more every day. The trend seems to be that Google goes too far too often, and that the law is typically against them when it is laid down.

Google, though, do have sway. Don't even pretend for a second that corporations with interests like Google's don't lobby. Every politician outside of China knows he'd face a huge amount of **** if they ever banned Google, regardless of what the violations are.

Google can basically just get away with it because they're Google.

 

[Renzatic]

Apple maps still puts A, my house, 30 miles down the road in a field and still spells B completely wrong so I would never get there.

I think Apple's telling you to leave the house and commune with nature a little more.

This is the reason why I like Apple products so much. It's little touches like this that make for a much better experience when compared to Android. Their stuff feels less a cold, logical machine, and more like a...dare I say it...friend.

 

[The Phazer]

The question is if they need to, or if making the core functionality that 95% uses great, is enough. I would say so.

Which they're not going to, even if it was.

 

[Djtrackie]

Actually, almost exactly. I can easily access aggregate demographic data right down to the zip/postal code in many cases and use it to target direct mail advertisements. Happens all the time.

Sure, it's not as precise but it is a very similar concept.

Yeah but the census isn't selling the paper or the billboard the advertisements are printed on. Population demographics is one thing. But targeted advertisements are another.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

If ever there is a bubble stock presently it is Google. Closes at $915.89.

 

[bag of kittens]

here you go.

Point out to me where it says Google is making money selling data directly to advertisers.

You can say "oh you're ignorant", and "blah blah blah you don't know what you're talking about" all you want. Proving they don't is another matter entirely. See if you can do it.

You still don't understand. Google is not in the business of taking personal information (address, date of birth, etc) and selling it directly to marketers. They are in the business of selling ads based upon your online history/profile. This is still called "selling information" albeit not in the direct sense we are accustomed to with marketers. This is also where the lion's share of their revenue comes from - they would simply not be a viable business without this.

By claiming their business model is based upon selling "ad space" and not "information" is a cheap conjurers trick of semantics.

 

[Digital Skunk]

Love the new features, but for a "whole new perspective" can we stop using the crap Mercator projection map and start showing the countries as they really are? Especially Africa?

 

[Saladinos]

LordVic said it all. do you honestly believe advertisers get a "persona" of every user lmao the EU would be after them in a heart beat. google sells ad space. mc donald tells google "hey we want to advertise the new burger xy" so google is like "okay ill look in our anonym pool of data with "people" that may like the new fat burger xxl". mc donalds doesnt get all the data google collects and can pick out mr xy living in xy of the age xy lets target him

but believe what you want im outta here

They don't get a profile of everybody, but they can target it very precisely.

The worst thing for advertisers is spending money on ad views to people who aren't interested. They'll pay more if you can precision-target those ads to specific classes of people.

Except that people don't fit in to classes - every individual has a unique overlap of interests. That's why Google need to always keep collecting more information.

It's not just privacy from advertisers getting a list of names and addresses; I just don't want Google to know that much about me. They're a private company, and they have no right to information which is that powerful.

You could say "opt out", and indeed I do, but if you've ever tried to completely stay invisible to Google, you'll quickly learn that it's very, very hard to do.

 

[bag of kittens]

Yap, what I thought, you don't know what you're talking about and when you have been caught you try to insult others.

Well, the one being an ignorant and the one that has not read a Google quarterly or annual report is you.

Google, or Apple with iAds don't sell any information, they sell a ****ing ad space to others. Both of them do it.

I work in the financial sector, and read financial reports because it's part of my job. Try it sometime - you will learn how businesses actually make their money, as opposed to the Walt Disney image they serve up to the public.

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They don't get a profile of everybody, but they can target it very precisely.

The worst thing for advertisers is spending money on ad views to people who aren't interested. They'll pay more if you can precision-target those ads to specific classes of people.

Except that people don't fit in to classes - every individual has a unique overlap of interests. That's why Google need to always keep collecting more information.

It's not just privacy from advertisers getting a list of names and addresses; I just don't want Google to know that much about me. They're a private company, and they have no right to information which is that powerful.

You could say "opt out", and indeed I do, but if you've ever tried to completely stay invisible to Google, you'll quickly learn that it's very, very hard to do.

^ This. People on here don't understand when a company is offering a free service, the product they are selling is you. Such a fundamental disconnect from reality.