Questions Arise Over Google's Plans to Bring Free Turn-By-Turn GPS Navigation to iPhone

[kas23]

But Google in my opinion is hardly a company to admire. They are slowly eroding what little privacy people have left, and continuously on a regular basis help to themselves to people's information without so much as asking for permission. The latest example being that their street view cameras are capturing local WiFi networks and MAC address and saving them for Google's own interest.

What exactly are these "Streetview cameras"? As I understand, this was a camera attached onto a car that had to physical drive through all these streets. As for cameras, they are no longer there collecting information. And this information can be achieved through other means. They don't need cameras for this. And mapping of streets is certainly not unique to Google. In fact, 1-2 years back, Apple purchased a company that did just that.

As for Google collecting personal, many many companies do this and most people don't even knwo this. Credit card companies will sell information about purchasing habits. Amazon tracks everything you look at on their web-site. iTunes knows everything about your music collection (via Genius) so they can push certain music in your direction. Shopper club cards at grocery stores strack what items you are buying so they can offer the buyer certain coupons and advertise similar items. Cable stations know where you are watching TV so they broadcast local company commercials. The list goes on and on. The tracking of people's personal information is nothing new and certainly not unique to Google.

 

[ChazUK]

if google does bring google navigation to the iphone it will be with apples help and most likely as part of the built in maps app so there wont be any "rejection".

Just like Latitude got built into the maps app? Oh, wait.......

 

[kiljoy616]

Navigon is nice, but I think overall gmaps/nav would be great.

Navigon rocks, never had any problems, works as it should. Do I need to see trees when I am going to point b from point a. no i don't and most people don't either.

Google is also good but how many GPS does anyone need?
Yes I would like to see all of them on the apple store, let people decide not apple.

I don't really see why GPS is such a big deal. As long as it gets me there, there been the nearest starbuck I am happy.

 

[jdhandi]

Yeah, you think google is going to walk away from hundreds of millions of dollars not to mention all the ads that go along with the map service. Yeah think again.

Yeah, because there is no other email service out there for the iPhone?

Power of Big G? Yeah waiting to see that...... Glad you don't run Google or you would ran that ship into the ground........

yes, glad i am not running google because if I was, apple was dead by now.

 

[kdarling]

CNET: "Google is working with Apple on bringing it to the iPhone, and it's not ruling out licensing the software to makers of portable navigation devices used in cars throughout the world," said Gundotra, vice president of engineering at Google for mobile and developers. "The process involving Apple is slightly different from the usual App Store submission process, because Maps is a built-in iPhone application," he said.

PCWorld: "We did not say we would bring it to iPhone, we said to date we've had it on Android and that in the future it may come to other platforms but did not confirm this will be coming to iPhone at all," a Google spokesperson told PCWorld.

So who's likely the liar; CNET, PCWorld, or Google?

Internet reporters take huge liberties with so-called "quotes". They'll insert their own hopes or opinions and word it as if they were said by someone else.

Plus we have the pile-on effect, where each reporter steals from previous ones and then adds one more bogus quote. It starts with "well, that's always possible" and becomes a firm assurance within a couple of iterations.

Going back in this case, I found the usual sequence: the closer you got to the original source, the less that was actually said. Getting almost to the end, Reuters originally wrote:

He [Gundotra] would not comment on whether Apple's iPhone, which offers Google mapping software as part of its standard menu of built-in applications, would offer the new navigation features. He said, in response to a question, that the latest version of the iPhone, the iPhone 3GS, has the horsepower to support the navigation product.

Other reporters quickly added on more "quotes" until it got to the point where it was claimed he had actually stated Google was working with Apple to put it on the iPhone, they just had some problems because Maps was a built-in app. Amazing.

Upshot: Apparently that Google exec did not say it was coming to the iPhone.

 

[ruinfx]

Just like Latitude got built into the maps app? Oh, wait.......

except latitude is worthless without OS 4.0 multitasking, so enabling it back when 3.0 was launched didnt make sense.

 

[nathan734]

I have a gut feeling that apple will release google's turn-by-turn directions in it's maps app in iphone os 4....

 

[dagomike]

Bit of a double edged sword for Apple here. A free GPS navigation on their device would surely promote sales. Of course it was have an adverse effect on App store sales.

Be interesting to see what happens.

Apple doesn't care. I'm sure their preference is to have it on the iPhone too, but there are several better options already on the iPhone. If the prospects of a free "beta" GPS nav app is make it or break it for the iPhone, then that's a pretty superficial shopper who would be probably attracted to the iPhone for some other shiny app like the puppy cam.

 

[odedia]

There is no need for Google's GPS implementation.

You already have a great, free solution for the iPhone called "Waze". It is a social, free GPS application that also includes real-time updates from other users such as traffic jams, speed radars etc.

In Israel, it is used by virtually every smartphone user (It is available for iPhone, Windows Mobile and Nokia handsets). When you start driving, you can see dozens of other waze users on your map, using the app in real time. It's really cool.

 

[yg17]

Google should go tell Apple to pound sand and keep turn by turn an Android exclusive. Why should Google do anything to improve the iPhone when Apple is filing ridiculous lawsuits against Google and HTC? If I were Google, I'd tell Apple to go f*** themselves and to find a new provider for the Maps app data while they're at it.

 

[SteveSparks]

Google is a company that we should admire, going up against Chinese censorship and really haven't done anything "evil". They seem to have found a way to make money and still look out for the general good.

Steve Jobs has the audacity to call Google evil for bringing some competition

Google keeps reading my email. That's not evil?

 

[Lara F]

AT&T, for whatever their problems, consented to Apple's M.O.-motivated demands: service & billing is _simple_. No other cellular service has enough coverage plus willingness to let Apple present the Apple user experience (designed to move Apple hardware). iPhone on Verizon risks having the GUI replaced by a decade-old POS menu GUI (gotta keep that interface uniform across all Verizon-offered phones, ya know! idiots)

I didn't realize we were in 2007 again. GMAB and actually look at the Droid, Eris, upcoming Incredible and Pre Plus and tell me where you see Verizon's UI.

Verizon will not change the iPhone if/when they get it. Period. Visual mail may carry a fee but that's not much worse than AT&T's $20 for unlimited text.

Sorry, I know this isn't a carrier thread. I'd love to see Google GPS on the iPhone, OTOH I don't know if the ad revenue is worth sacrificing one of Android's real exclusivities. They're probably trying to determine that ATM.

 

[rish]

Placebase

Maps company that Apple purchased last year. Developed a maps API called Pushpin. Now under Apple.

Coming to an iPhone natively soon I suspect. Adios Google maps never accurate anyway. Adios to Google search reasonably too I hope.

 

[jragosta]

yes, glad i am not running google because if I was, apple was dead by now.

And you call Jobs arrogant? Sheesh.

Before you make silly statements like that, why not explain your credentials - why you could run Google better than the current management team - and why you could beat Apple.

When I was a kid, I only fantasized about being Superman. Kids these days think even bigger.

Google should go tell Apple to pound sand and keep turn by turn an Android exclusive. Why should Google do anything to improve the iPhone when Apple is filing ridiculous lawsuits against Google and HTC? If I were Google, I'd tell Apple to go f*** themselves and to find a new provider for the Maps app data while they're at it.

And you'd be out of business if you made silly emotional decisions like that.

Google has a strategy - being present everywhere and harvesting data from everyone. As soon as they start ignoring segments (particularly one of the largest segments of the mobile market), they're sunk.

 

[rish]

do you really not see a problem with the type of information Google is compiling on you? They have your email, your house on satellite, they document every internet search you make, and video you watch, and when you buy their phone, they literally can track you & listen in on every phone call... all ONE company. Not to mention the fact that they sat on the Board for Apple, and then after the iphone came out, had the brilliant idea to make their own smartphone using iphone features they were privy too from being on Apple's board.... whether or not you like Apple, that is a problem. And no matter how egotistical or arsehole-like Steve Jobs may possibly be, he isn't the one driving photo cars in front of your house, peering into your windows, showing complete satellite layouts of your community to any would be terrorists. Google IS evil, and can kiss my @$$.

Nicely put.

 

[inkswamp]

I don't want to get into any "Google sucks" sort of discussions because they don't suck. In fact, Google's pretty amazing overall, even if they are bumping heads with everyone's favorite fruit company right now. But still, those of you defending Google's practice of collecting information about users should keep this one simple fact in mind:

Google will not always be run by the people who run it now. And your information will still be there, regardless.

Sure, I will agree that the current group of people running Google seem to be decent--at least no worse than executives at any other company. They don't seem to be using the information they gather about their users for any evil purposes.

However, as we Apple observers and fans should know, power changes hands at these companies. And sometimes, it can change hands in unexpected ways in a very short period of time. And sometimes even a soda pop executive can oust a charismatic visionary. The entire culture of a company can shift overnight.

Ask yourself this. Would you be comfortable with Google having all that personal information about you under different, future leadership? Someday it's going to happen. There will be a changing of the guard and those coming in to fill those positions may not be so principled in selling off your information to less-than-reputable buyers and/or the government.

 

[kironin]

Exactly. Google is an infinitely superior software company, and Apple is becoming the lumbering ******s of the industry. Going to be great when it bites them in the ass.

infinitely superior ?

how about customer service with Google ?

<crickets chirping>

on the other hand Apple is consistently ranked top.

 

[Friscohoya]

One more thing......

Didnt Apple buy a map company? This stuff is all finite. They will have their own service certailny by iphone 5, but maybe this summer.

 

[ShiftyPig]

Hurm. The big question is will Apple approve it? They wouldn’t let Latitude in the App Store because it “duplicates functionality.”

The Maps app is already (pretty much) supplied by Google. Seems a bit odd that Apple would reject what would basically be an improved Google Maps app.

 

[CWallace]

The thing about moving to ATT that should bother you the most is JOINING ATT. Worst network ever. Apple tying themselves to that piece of garbage company was one of many mistakes they keep making.

Put the iPhone's data traffic on Verizon's network and see how well it holds up.

Then again, since Verizon's network evidently can't handle voice and data at the same time from the same device, maybe performance would be better, just at the expense of functionality...

 

[Tailpike1153]

The thing about moving to ATT that should bother you the most is JOINING ATT. Worst network ever. Apple tying themselves to that piece of garbage company was one of many mistakes they keep making.

When Verizon told Apple to f*** off, should it have gone back and said please,please,please. Verizon was given the shot at Jesus phone said no and it emphatically said no. As many others have stated your mileage may vary with different networks. In the US: 47% love ATT, 47% love Verizon, 5% like other carriers and !% think US cell service is f'd.

As far as the subject, Google can do what it wants. If it wants to take Google apps away from the AppStore. That will just make fanatics into mouth-foaming fanboys. Nobody going to pieces that Apple doesn't make an iTunes app available for other mobiles. Find alternatives.

 

[inkswamp]

infinitely superior ?

how about customer service with Google ?

<crickets chirping>

on the other hand Apple is consistently ranked top.

I'm just stunned that anyone would claim Google is infinitely superior to Apple in software. I think pretty highly of Google but I would say their software efforts are the worst thing about them. I've found that Google's desktop software is pretty consistently awful, and that often times, speed problems under Windows can be solved by uninstalling Google Desktop/Earth/Toolbar. They're really miserably bad pieces of software that come nowhere close to the caliber of Apple's stuff.

It's weird. There are so many areas you could say Google outdoes Apple, but software is not even on the radar. And given that Google's only decent software is Google Chrome which is powered by Apple's Webkit, I'm puzzled why someone would even try to argue that.

 

[yg17]

The Maps app is already (pretty much) supplied by Google. Seems a bit odd that Apple would reject what would basically be an improved Google Maps app.

Navigon is 80 bucks, Apple gets a cut of that.
Google Navigation is free, Apple gets nothing.

 

[FullGaz]

You want free? Use Waze! It's worldwide, it's turn by turn, it speaks, it even does 3D for those who like that.

 

[CWallace]

I use Google's products and services with eyes wide open, so I understand the data mining they perform on my visits and that they use that data to target me with advertisements.

As others have noted, Google generates almost all their income on advertisements. Chrome was not created to give users a superior OS experience - it was created to allow Google to have more control at advertising to those users.

Google created Android to create another avenue to push Google ads, to complement platforms like the iPhone, not compete with them. Google wants to be on the iPhone because it generates an inordinate amount of data traffic which means significant opportunities for Google to throw ads at it.

Google doesn't maintain anywhere near the control over the hardware and environment that Apple does on the iPhone because they don't really care about that. Clearly they don't want something unusable, but as long as it's good enough to get people to buy (and then download Google ads), then that's good enough for Google. And I know to many that lack of oversight and control is a great plus, because it allows features and capabilities to come into play that Apple either won't allow or will only allow on their timescale, but in 5-10 years, Android will be as fractured as Windows Mobile is now. The iPhone won't have as many cool features or capabilities, but it will still be a (mostly) coherent platform where handsets are still usable across multiple OS generations and those OS generations are easily attainable and installable.