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The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

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Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#361

Post by angryasian »

dasil003 wrote: post #343
diggan wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget that Apple and Google is currently playing in the same game, smartphones and tablets. Probably a strategic move by Apple.

Or it could have been a strategic move by Google knowing the work that needs to be done, and that getting up to speed on maps would take Apple years.

this would be the worst strategy ever. So instead of becoming the major search for web and places/location on what would be close to 90% of the worlds smart phones, they instead would give up all the data and being the default search on the ios platform. Theres no way people are going to abandon ios over a sub par maps app.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#362

Post by qq66 »

jad wrote: post #308
qq66 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that tiresome. Jobs would have clearly done things differently. He would have either 1) paid retail prices for Google Maps API access until Apple could build a shippable product, or 2) Gone on stage and painted Google as a big evil bully who was stealing good Maps from iPhone users -- the media headlines would read "Google Reneges on Loyal Apple customers" or something like that. Notably, the second option i…

> Jobs would have clearly done things differently. What's almost as tiresome as the now persistent refrain of "this wouldn't have happened if Steve was still alive" are claims to know what Steve would have actually done if he were still alive. Your second option is ridiculous on its face.

Look at what happened with the iPhone 4 antenna issue. He just went on stage and said, "This isn't that big of a problem, and if it really bothers you, put it in a case." That is clearly not an option for Steve Ballmer or Larry Page in the same situation.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#363

Post by lttlrck »

chmars wrote: post #156
shawnc wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Apple have a Maps program on the Android devices? Are there other Maps programs available on the iOS devices? Saying Apple is 'forcing' users onto their product is a bit much.

As of today, I don't know of any Apple Maps alternatives in the iOS App Store. And switching a mobile platform is neither trivial nor a short-term perspective … I hope Google is busy worki on its own Maps app for iOS — for the time being, Google Maps in Mobile Safari has to do it for me.

Bing.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#364

Post by bergie »

Mythbusters wrote: post #307
misnome wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least they were functional, and it's not like they pushed ping and blocked every other social network from working on macs. As far as what Jobs would have done; the state of the maps is a plain embarrassment - I can't see why anyone has released this, let alone anyone with as much care about details as Jobs.

What is equally sad is that people put up with this substandard implementation of a core smartphone functionality. That Nokia 920 looks more and more appealing at this point of time with Navteq maps an OIS enabled camera, the two most used functions on a smartphone.

If those two were the most important smartphone features, Nokia would have never have gotten to the trouble they're now in. They've had pretty much the best camera and navigation features ever since the circa 2007 N95.

So, camera and maps are clearly not the primary features influencing smartphone buyers.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#365

Post by bergie »

Mythbusters wrote: post #120
Maascamp wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Apple gets a pass here. If they are forcing users onto their product it had better be competitive, no matter how hard it is. Microsoft got so such pass with WP7 and that was an entirely new OS/platform!

talking of pass, you should checkout the new nokia maps on the lumia. It's f awesome!!!

It seems every comment you've made here in the past few days has been about Nokia's new device. Astroturfing or just a fan?

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#366

Post by lttlrck »

sillysaurus wrote: post #42
glhaynes wrote: post #23

I'm clueless about mapping/geocoding/etc (it's amazing I make it to the grocery store and back) but I keep hearing that Apple needed to get this out there so that they could start getting data feeding back from the millions of iOS users, and thus (presumably rapidly) improving the quality of the maps. Is there any truth at all to that? I don't quite understand where they'd be getting that data back from - e.g. if I s…

e.g. if I search for the hospital and I eventually find it 3 miles down the road from where the map took me, how would Apple/their mapping partners ever know that the POI should be moved? One possibility is that the phone keeps track of the fact that "you drove 3 miles past where you were 'supposed' to stop, and then stopped at some other (specific) location." As more and more people do that --- search the hospital,…

You tell them using the Report Problem button....

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#367

Post by rkrkrk21 »

Its now very clear that Apple is loosing its direction after steve jobs gone. People who used to get crazy about the release of apple products will no loose the passion if apple follows this path.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#368

Post by visarg »

It would seem I am alone in saying that for Bucharest, Romania the iOS6 Maps is better than Google Maps was because Google Maps was not able to look up houses by number - which means it was unable to guide me to any address. It was just the satellite imagery with roads overlaid, so, if you wanted to go to say, West St. 23, it could find you West St. and put the pointer right in the middle of it, even if it was miles long.

Apple can look up addresses. That's all.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#369

Post by LnxPrgr3 »

caycep wrote: post #334
LnxPrgr3 wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone here actually used this version of Maps to find someplace yet? Not just to break it and point and laugh, but to actually use it? I can only see 3D maps as a gimmick, so I can't bring myself to care too much that it's broken. I'm slightly surprised that feature shipped in that state, but meh. What I care about: can it get me where I'm going? It's 2012 and I've still found nothing that can do that without occasi…

It works most of the time. Especially for businesses, as I think it accesses the yelp directory. If it gets point a and b correct, the routing seems ok. Most errors seem to be that of string parsing - the biggest sin is not recognizing town/state portions of search strings consistently. Ironic since I'd bet some of the best language parsing people are busy working on llvm and clang somewhere else on apple campus.

For that matter, they have people working on natural language processing, though my phone's too old for me to know how that's working out for them.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#370

Post by CamperBob2 »

uxp wrote: post #124
jpdoctor wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> wrong or non existent hospital. FWIW: I can see that turning into a lawsuit.

Google's Maps TOS states[1]: 4. Content in the Products. (a) Map data, traffic, directions, and related Content are provided for planning purposes only. You may find that weather conditions, construction projects, closures, or other events may cause road conditions or directions to differ from the map results. You should exercise judgment in your use of this Content. And Apple's iOS6 License agreement states[2]: 5. S…

There's basically no difference between the two.

It would be one thing if a search for a hospital on iOS failed by returning "Not found." It's quite another if the search returns an abandoned warehouse 6 miles away.

Good luck convincing a jury that this isn't negligence, especially when Apple knew very well that their data was garbage.

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