Before I begin on my main topic.. I am really happy that Google map is back. I hope Apple will update iOS so that we can use Google map as default map on iPhone. I was/am totally fine with Apple maps in US. However, during my India trip, I did felt pain. As most of you know, I still enjoy and love driving in India (it is just much more thrilling to drive in India..).. So during my last trip I borrowed my Sister-in-law's car and was on my own. As I was in Delhi / Noida after a while, I did needed navigation system. Asking "paan wala" was beneath my reputation.. I had my International roaming data plan and was confident with iPhone.. However, Apple maps royally screwed me over there.. It simply didn't worked. I could only get some overview out of it but no navigation or real good help.. Chrome/Google maps on safari were mostly non functional.. So bottom line.. I am really happy to have it back..
Having said that.. I still feel that it was Apple map which forced Google to update their mapping feature.. otherwise there was no way they were going to add turn-by-turn navigation. It was literally competing with their Android's base feature. Whatever we say about Apple maps.. it did forced them to update and helped us all by making Google Maps on iOS much better then what it used to be. Moreover, in US, I really like Apple maps.. it is totally fine with me while driving... I tested it and liked much better..
It will be good lift for Google. still I feel that we will see its usage on iPhone much less than before. While you are browsing or searching in safari and you get some address.. if you click on that address it is going to open native Apple maps only.. unless you copy that address or go back to Google maps application and search it again there.. you are not going to get Google maps.. same is true with address book.. if you click on saved address it will still open Apple maps.. Unless.. Apple makes some setting updates and integrates with Google maps as it has integrated with Facebook and Twitter.. Let us see..
Bottom line.. if Google had played nicely.. we would still have them as native mapping service in iPhone. At least I think so..
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The new Google Maps app, which became available as a download Wednesday, is shown on an iPad.
Even so, Cupertino-based Apple will undoubtedly keep working to improve its own mapping technology as it battles Google for supremacy in the mobile computing market. More than half of all smartphones used in the United States are Android devices, while slightly more than a third are iPhones, according to the research firm comScore.
Analysts say location based services are increasingly important for both tech giants, as more people access the Internet on mobile devices. But Apple’s homegrown maps service was widely criticized for offering buggy responses and inaccurate information, in contrast with the mapping technology that Google has developed and refined over more than a decade.
“If anything, this puts more pressure on Apple to sort out their own maps,” said Carolina Milanesi, a consumer technology analyst with Gartner. “Maps are a key part of the future of mobility. They can’t just throw in the towel now.”
Google doesn’t charge consumers to use its Maps app. But Milanesi said data from the app provides Google with valuable insights into its users’ interests and travels. It also could help Google introduce them to other services and ultimately show them paid advertising.
Unlike Google’s old Maps app for iPhones, the new version invites users to log in with their Google Gmail account, which would help Google exchange more information with them. While the login is optional, Milanesi said she expects many people will use it.
Google also announced it will release a software development kit that independent app builders can use to incorporate Google’s mapping technology into other mobile services.
Google’s old mapping service was extremely popular with independent developers who build apps for the iPhone and iPad, said Nolan Wright, co-founder of Appcelerator, a Mountain View firm that makes software used by app builders. The IDC research firm reported over the summer that 80 percent of all mobile software applications have features that are keyed to the user’s location.
Wright cautioned that “it remains to be seen” whether developers will embrace the new Google app for Apple’s IS platform. Apple’s own maps are still the default service on iPhones and iPads, which means users must take the extra step of downloading Google Maps if they want to use it. Wright said some developers may be cautious about using Google’s maps until they see how many people use it.
Apple also has an advantage over Google because Apple’s maps are embedded into Apple’s operating system, which means other Apple services such as Siri will use Apple maps by default, said Charles Golvin, a mobile-technology expert at Forrester.
Golvin said that means Google’s new app still won’t provide “as fluid an experience” when compared with the Apple service, or even the old Google app, which was the default service on iPhones until it was replaced. On the other hand, Google’s new app includes popular features, such as turn-by-turn directions, that Google has long offered on Android phones but were not part of Google’s old app for iPhones.
Apple has apologized for the flaws in its maps and replaced an executive who oversaw the project. But Golvin said “the maps problem continues to be a black eye for Apple. It remains to be seen whether Apple’s customers will return to using Apple’s maps once they address all the problems there.”
Investors seemed to agree with Golvin’s assessment that the new iPhone app is “a win for Google.” Google’s stock rose $5.14, or 0.7 percent, to close at $702.70 Thursday. Apple’s stock fell $9.31, or 1.7 percent, to close at $529.69.
Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/ BrandonBailey.
Having said that.. I still feel that it was Apple map which forced Google to update their mapping feature.. otherwise there was no way they were going to add turn-by-turn navigation. It was literally competing with their Android's base feature. Whatever we say about Apple maps.. it did forced them to update and helped us all by making Google Maps on iOS much better then what it used to be. Moreover, in US, I really like Apple maps.. it is totally fine with me while driving... I tested it and liked much better..
It will be good lift for Google. still I feel that we will see its usage on iPhone much less than before. While you are browsing or searching in safari and you get some address.. if you click on that address it is going to open native Apple maps only.. unless you copy that address or go back to Google maps application and search it again there.. you are not going to get Google maps.. same is true with address book.. if you click on saved address it will still open Apple maps.. Unless.. Apple makes some setting updates and integrates with Google maps as it has integrated with Facebook and Twitter.. Let us see..
Bottom line.. if Google had played nicely.. we would still have them as native mapping service in iPhone. At least I think so..
TRIUMPHANT RETURN
Google Maps app back on iPhone
Service provides lift for Apple, big gain for search giant
By Brandon Bailey
bbailey@mercurynews.com
Eager iPhone owners rushed to download Google’s new Maps app, driving it to the top of the most-popular list in the iTunes store Thursday and marking a triumphant return for one of Apple’s biggest rivals. The new app, which became available in the iTunes store Wednesday night, may be a short-term boon for Apple if its release helps soothe the many complaints that Apple has heard from iPhone users over the last six months — ever since Apple replaced an earlier Google Maps application with Apple’s own flawed mapping service on the most recent version of its signature smartphone.
But analysts said the upgraded Maps app is also a powerful tool for Google, as the Mountain View Internet giant seeks to cultivate a profitable relationship with millions of smartphone owners who have chosen Apple’s iPhone over competing devices that run on Google’s Android operating software. “Thank you, Google!” read the first of more than 12,000 mostly favorable reviews that iPhone users posted after downloading the new app Thursday.
Google Maps app back on iPhone
Service provides lift for Apple, big gain for search giant
By Brandon Bailey
bbailey@mercurynews.com
Eager iPhone owners rushed to download Google’s new Maps app, driving it to the top of the most-popular list in the iTunes store Thursday and marking a triumphant return for one of Apple’s biggest rivals. The new app, which became available in the iTunes store Wednesday night, may be a short-term boon for Apple if its release helps soothe the many complaints that Apple has heard from iPhone users over the last six months — ever since Apple replaced an earlier Google Maps application with Apple’s own flawed mapping service on the most recent version of its signature smartphone.
But analysts said the upgraded Maps app is also a powerful tool for Google, as the Mountain View Internet giant seeks to cultivate a profitable relationship with millions of smartphone owners who have chosen Apple’s iPhone over competing devices that run on Google’s Android operating software. “Thank you, Google!” read the first of more than 12,000 mostly favorable reviews that iPhone users posted after downloading the new app Thursday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The new Google Maps app, which became available as a download Wednesday, is shown on an iPad.
Even so, Cupertino-based Apple will undoubtedly keep working to improve its own mapping technology as it battles Google for supremacy in the mobile computing market. More than half of all smartphones used in the United States are Android devices, while slightly more than a third are iPhones, according to the research firm comScore.
Analysts say location based services are increasingly important for both tech giants, as more people access the Internet on mobile devices. But Apple’s homegrown maps service was widely criticized for offering buggy responses and inaccurate information, in contrast with the mapping technology that Google has developed and refined over more than a decade.
“If anything, this puts more pressure on Apple to sort out their own maps,” said Carolina Milanesi, a consumer technology analyst with Gartner. “Maps are a key part of the future of mobility. They can’t just throw in the towel now.”
Google doesn’t charge consumers to use its Maps app. But Milanesi said data from the app provides Google with valuable insights into its users’ interests and travels. It also could help Google introduce them to other services and ultimately show them paid advertising.
Unlike Google’s old Maps app for iPhones, the new version invites users to log in with their Google Gmail account, which would help Google exchange more information with them. While the login is optional, Milanesi said she expects many people will use it.
Google also announced it will release a software development kit that independent app builders can use to incorporate Google’s mapping technology into other mobile services.
Google’s old mapping service was extremely popular with independent developers who build apps for the iPhone and iPad, said Nolan Wright, co-founder of Appcelerator, a Mountain View firm that makes software used by app builders. The IDC research firm reported over the summer that 80 percent of all mobile software applications have features that are keyed to the user’s location.
Wright cautioned that “it remains to be seen” whether developers will embrace the new Google app for Apple’s IS platform. Apple’s own maps are still the default service on iPhones and iPads, which means users must take the extra step of downloading Google Maps if they want to use it. Wright said some developers may be cautious about using Google’s maps until they see how many people use it.
Apple also has an advantage over Google because Apple’s maps are embedded into Apple’s operating system, which means other Apple services such as Siri will use Apple maps by default, said Charles Golvin, a mobile-technology expert at Forrester.
Golvin said that means Google’s new app still won’t provide “as fluid an experience” when compared with the Apple service, or even the old Google app, which was the default service on iPhones until it was replaced. On the other hand, Google’s new app includes popular features, such as turn-by-turn directions, that Google has long offered on Android phones but were not part of Google’s old app for iPhones.
Apple has apologized for the flaws in its maps and replaced an executive who oversaw the project. But Golvin said “the maps problem continues to be a black eye for Apple. It remains to be seen whether Apple’s customers will return to using Apple’s maps once they address all the problems there.”
Investors seemed to agree with Golvin’s assessment that the new iPhone app is “a win for Google.” Google’s stock rose $5.14, or 0.7 percent, to close at $702.70 Thursday. Apple’s stock fell $9.31, or 1.7 percent, to close at $529.69.
Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/ BrandonBailey.
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