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If you aren’t in the know on the Apple side of things, Apple is getting ready to drop Google’s map solutions in favor of their own through three mapping companies they’ve acquired. The announcement is rumored to be coming at WWDC, Apple’s yearly developer conference, but Google’s not going to sit by and let Apple undercut them without a little bit of fun of their own.
Google is sending out invites for press to join them June 6th to see the “next generation of Google Maps.” It’s tough to predict what we’ll be seeing, but knowing Google it should be quite the charmer (especially considering they’re holding a separate event just to show it off).
Apple’s event will kick off just five days later so it’ll be interesting to see what these two powerhouses have in store for each other. It’ll be especially key for Apple to come with a comprehensive suite of mapping tools to take the thunder off Google Maps. They might have some difficulty doing that as Google Maps is established on both desktop computing and mobile.
In fact, we’re not even sure which side of the Google Maps spectrum will be getting some deep tissue massaging. We imagine mobile will have to be a focal point considering Apple will likely push their solutions on iOS devices, but we won’t know for sure until everything’s laid out on the table. Interesting times ahead, indeed. [via 9to5Mac]
Apple will reschedule their maps presentation for June 5th at 8:30 a.m.
google is probably preparing for the mass exodus that’s about to occur when apple decides to put its own turn by turn in iOS
And claim they did it first.
Like what happened when they decided to put their own notification bar? Or their own speech recognition software?
It’s so weird… I think people are saying apple and then all I hear is HURRRDURRRWE DIT IT FIRST IT JUST WORKS ANDROID SUCKS…. no but really this is the mentality I deal with everyday when iphone buyers come in…. BUT I HAVE CLOUD>@!!@@@>>ELWENR ugh. I cannot wait for iphone 5 to finally come out and blow over as the last one did.
over their shit.
The only thing I need now from Google is the ability to download maps for offline use. Other than that, I’ve been extremely happy with Google Maps for Android.
Well you can pre-cache areas. Not quite the same, but almost as good.
It already caches the maps for you. Just make sure you have coverage when you type in your directions. You should be good after that.
If I remember correctly this is possible through labs or a recent update. Granted it doesn’t allow the whole US to be available offline but you can load an address and that specific surrounding area (within specific a certain miles radius) will be downloaded to your phone.
We need navigation to work offline also. Route calculation is made on google servers and not on the phone, so if you lost reception you can have an area cached but you can not navigate
Would also like to see “my tracks” get pre cached including satellite.
Caching a radius (like in Labs) is not the same as downloading regions. I want true offline maps, like the original poster mentioned. I hope this new Apple competition will wake Google up.
How much area do you need to be able to cache to be happy? If you did an entire region it would be a ton of storage on your phone. Like people have said, it downloads your navigation right away so if you lose service you will be fine. The only feature I think it is missing is the ability to make the cache area bigger if you wanted.
Actually, on android, maps uses vectors and it is quite small.
I had pre-cached a pretty big region plus I always pre-cache even when not on Wifi and I have never seen it go above 10 megs.
I want to be able to download the entire USA. There are plenty of other navigation apps that allow this on the Market. I have been tempted to download them, but always figured Google would eventually offer it. I don’t mind paying for it, I would just rather have a Google version that is tightly integrated into Maps which will allow me to view all of my maps and points of interests I have been accruing over the years. Don’t get me wrong, I have been really impressed with Maps/Nav, but I always figured true offline maps would be a natural evolution. For me space is not an issue since I have a 32G SD card.
Agreed the latest ios is able to choose size.
oh god, that would be excellent. You sir are a genius.
Exciting stuff!
The Apple version will have locations for standing in line for 10 hours, waiting on the iPhone 5. The Google version will list the same locations as special education centers.
lmao!
Comment of the year and we’re only half way through 2012.
its the next dimension not the next generation,
Meaning 3D, right?
Google will announce augmented reality navigation. Where your camera will show the road simultaneously while navigating. It will be very interesting to see how this will be received by the GPS companies that are already treading water.
Navigation using street view, but how do you get past the loads of data needed?
I am so glad Apple decided to start their own map service. This will make Google really start to push the envelope some more. While Maps and Navigation have been great, I have been very underwhelmed by the fact that I still can not download regions for navigation for time when I do not have service. And no, caching a radius (like in Labs) is not the same as downloading regions. I have a feeling Apple will include this, forcing Googs to do the same… or so I hope.
You can download maps, have been able to for about a year or more. Check the labs feature.
Can you read past two sentences of a post before dropping your ingenious comment?
What? Google Maps has had offline mapping since July of last year. Get with the program.
Apple will force removal of Google Maps on all iOS devices(because of incompatibility) with the replacement being there map product and claim their popularity is overwhelming….;-)
Yep..its funny how easily predictable they are :D
Bet you have to upgrade to Iphone 5 to get it too.. So lame. But I must say apples siri is nice. But really how often is it used? Its just like getting an app, so awesome the first couple days but then you don’t really use it anymore. Maps will be the same thing.
Bet you have to upgrade to Iphone 5 to get it too.. So lame. But I must say apples siri is nice. But really how often is it used? Its just like getting an app, so awesome the first couple days but then you don’t really use it anymore. Maps will be the same thing.
Haha google caught word that apple was about to drop em and release their own 3-d maps and now they’re hustling to release their own version before apple does, just to say they did it first, pathetic google lol
Would like to see Google to update satellite images, some are really outdated. Also would like to see standardized resolution, some areas still fuzzy .
The problem here is that even though google maps is the bomb, apples great marketing will make people say ” what, we can have maps on a phone? that is phenomenal! i want to get an iphone now and get maps on my phone”.. google needs to step up with their ads and commercials. they are kind of lame. i hate apple, but their marketing kicks googles ass
There’s too much lost love between Apple and Google. They need some counseling :-)
I love all the “Google is in trouble” comments. The reality is Apple has a long road ahead of them and it has a dead end, as the iPhone market share is declining.
Good times ahead in the mapping world.