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iPhone: Article

Apple Maps Reportedly Sandbagged Google

The announcement forced Google to scramble to develop an iOS 6 app and it won’t be able to ship anything for several months
By Maureen O'Gara
Article Rating:
September 27, 2012 08:30 AM EDT
Reads:
 2,238

Google appears to be perfectly happy to let Apple dangle in the wind and not rush to take advantage of complaints about its newfangled maps program by putting an iOS 6-compatible Google Maps application on the market.

The Verge, however, claims Google was blindsided when Apple unilaterally announced in June that it would drop Google Maps from its widgets because their Google Maps arrangement had more than a year left to run.

The announcement forced Google to scramble to develop an iOS 6 app and it won't be able to ship anything for several months.

The Verge says Apple felt the Google Maps for iOS that it bundled was falling years behind the Android program, missing popular items like turn-by-turn navigation. Apple's new maps have that missing ingredient.

The New York Times, which tells basically the same story, says Google is trying to get something out by the end of the year. Evidently Google chairman Eric Schmidt can truthfully say, as he did the other day, that the company hasn't submit a Google Maps app for the iPhone because it doesn't have one.

The Times added that Google would like to match Apple's 3D imagery but Google's 3D images are in Google Earth, which has a separate code base from Google Maps and bringing the two together is going to take time. Meanwhile Apple will continue to improve its maps.

Published September 27, 2012 – Reads 2,238
Copyright © 2012 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
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More Stories By Maureen O'Gara

Maureen O'Gara the most read technology reporter for the past 20 years, is the Cloud Computing and Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025. Twitter: @MaureenOGara

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