maps

Consumer Reports checks out Apple Maps, and isn't happy

Apple may think a lot of its new Maps app in iOS 6, but for Consumer Reports, the software remains a work in progress.

"Maps feels like a fresh, new product that has much maturing to do before it can rival paid ($20-$40) apps from leading navigation companies, such as Garmin, Navigon, and TomTom," the organization noted in a post published on its Web site.

Maps has a simple interface that will likely appeal to Apple users, especially those in a car, ready to travel. However, we consider it to be short on options, including many that … Read more

Apple looks to poach former Google Maps staff for iOS, report says

After coming under fire for its Maps application, Apple has decided to look for some help from former Google workers.

Apple is currently trying to woo folks who worked on Google Maps, TechCrunch is reporting, citing a source. That source claims that many of those who were contracted to help Google with its Maps application are seriously considering joining Apple, since the company offers an opportunity to create something new, rather than deliver "tedious updates" to an already established product.

Apple launched its Maps application for iOS last week with the operating system's launch. Soon after, users … Read more

iPhone 5 sales top 5M units over first weekend, Apple says

Apple said today that it sold 5 million of its new iPhone 5 smartphones over the weekend, topping the mark set by last year's iPhone 4S by 1 million units.

The Apple frenzy on Friday continued its memorable run with lines snaking out of some of the company's most high-profile stores, as consumers eagerly snapped up the iPhone 5. The figure, however, isn't quite as high as some analysts expected, with one notably having predicted 6 million as his "worst-case scenario" for first-weekend sales.

Still, the iPhone 5 re-establishes Apple's dominance in the smartphone … Read more

Hacker: I've ported Google Maps to iOS 6

Google Maps seems to have found its way onto iOS 6 with help from a hacker, though it's not quite ready for its public debut.

Self-proclaimed iOS hacker and engineer Ryan Petrich tweeted yesterday that he was able to coax Google Maps to work on iOS 6 "with a little trickery." Though mum about his methods, he said that he was able to port the iOS 5.1 version of Google's app to run on an iPhone 3GS that had been updated to iOS 6. Petrich also included a short video clip showing Google Maps in action … Read more

Google's Motorola goes after Apple maps in new ad

How many fronts can a good war have?

An infinite number, if the bazooka fire around the iPhone 5 can be believed.

For Google's Motorola doesn't want to be left behind Samsung and Nokia, both of whom have already tried to mock Apple's new elongated marvel.

I am indebted to TechCrunch for coming upon a Motorola Google+ post (also on Motorola's Facebook page) that enjoys an ad with a mocking tone.

What reason could Motorola have to mock the iPhone 5? Why, it's the iOS 6 Maps app, of course. You know, the one that doesn't seem to quite get the locations right.… Read more

iOS 6 map mess was no big surprise to Apple

After users this week discovered glitches in Apple's update to its mobile operating system -- the first to include the company's mapping technology instead of Google's Maps app -- the conventional wisdom had it that Apple acted in a very un-Apple-like manner by pushing live an obviously defective product.

On the surface, the episode also made for an intriguing story line: With Steve Jobs, the micromanager par excellence, no longer around to obsess over the smallest detail, might this constitute a first small weakening of the Apple juggernaut? In the year since Tim Cook became CEO, Apple … Read more

Local search field test: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps

Yesterday we performed a field test of the turn-by-turn directions on both the iOS 6 Apple Maps app on the iPad and Google Maps on a Samsung Galaxy Tab. Both fared pretty well with getting us to our destinations, but Google Maps came out on top. As we pointed out yesterday, a number of people have been complaining about the Apple Maps app, from inaccuracies to poor directions.

Today, in part two of our testing, we did a number of searches for landmarks and other destinations to see how each app performed. After only a couple of tests, it was … Read more

Q&A; MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week readers wrote in with questions about whether or not the Maps app from iOS 5 could be installed and used on iOS 6, how best to use an Apple ID for business purchases, if you can back up multiple internal hard drives to Time Machine, and how to tackle PDF files appearing black in Web browsers. We welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Using Maps from … Read more

Why Apple made the right decision with iOS 6 Maps

Imagine you are Apple CEO Tim Cook. You control the single most profitable phone on the market, the iPhone. You have full control over your mobile OS -- iOS -- and the applications that run on it.

Except that's not actually true. You don't have full control over your mobile OS, because two of your default applications rely heavily on technology and data provided to you by Google, your greatest enemy. I am talking, of course, about YouTube and Google Maps, which have been part of iOS since the very first iPhone.

Removing YouTube is simple enough. Google wanted full control of the YouTube app, … Read more