dgstorm
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The above pic is an advertisement for the next iteration of Google Maps, and the date in the pic is reflective of that only.
Reports of Apple wanting to axe the Google Maps functionality from its iOS 6 suite have been spreading like fire around the web. The new in-house 3D mapping facility is expected to sport an incredible look that will offer users a cleaner and faster experience. Some rumors even claim that the new map app will be paraded around this month at the WWDC 2012 in San Francisco in the hope of attracting third-party application developers. A new report coming via The Wall Street Journal seems to reaffirm the above mentioned: Apple is indeed looking to get rid of Google Maps and it will actually do so later this year. It’s not just talk either, Apple has been pushing this for years, present and former Apple employees have claimed.
Apple has been looking for some time now to end the partnership with Google, and has slowly and delicately been making moves into that direction. For example in 2011, the Cupertino group acquired a C3 Technologies, a company that offers Photorealistic 3D mapping services. They also acquired Placebase, another online mapping company, plus Poly9 – a Canadian 3D mapping startup.
Apple and Google’s relationship has been quite tricky over the years. It might have started off well, but over the last 6 years things deteriorated quite a lot, since the two companies are direct competitors. Just think of the mobile ads that pop up every time you use a map or location program. According to Opus Research they make up 25% of the $2.5 billion that make up the mobile ad business in 2012. The stakes are quite big.
By Radu
Source: WSJ: Apple to abandon Google Maps on iOS later this year