Apple drops Google maps from iOs6 in favor of horse maps apps which has 3D maps featurs.

Apple drops Google maps from iOs6 in favor of horse maps apps which has 3D maps featurs.
The sources say that the new Maps app will be similar to the current Google Maps apps found in iOS, but will be a much “cleaner, faster, and more reliable experience,” which, many users of the current app will agree, would be pretty great. As someone who lives in a big city and regularly uses the iOS Maps app, I do find the thing to have a variety of obnoxious hitches that prevent the app from actually doing its main job: It constantly has to reorient itself and asks me to wave the phone in a figure-eight motion, it isn’t always up-to-date on pretty prominent retail and food chain locations, and the blue dot that marks my position simply points in the wrong direction sometimes.

The most important aspect of the new Maps application is a powerful new 3D mode. The 3D mode does not come enabled by default, but users simply need to click a 3D button that is conveniently and visibly stored in the app. Perhaps under the fold like the current traffic, pin, and map view buttons. This 3D mode is said to essentially be technology straight from C3 Technologies: beautiful, realisitic graphics based on de-classified missile target algorithms. This is how the Apple acquired company C3 Technologies described their technology:

C3 Technologies is the leading provider of 3D mapping solutions, offering photo-realistic models of the world for search, navigation and geographic information systems. Since 2007 when it was spun out of the aerospace and defense company Saab AB, venture-backed C3 has redefined mapping by applying previously classified image processing technology to the development of 3D maps as a platform for new social and commercial applications. The Sweden-based company’s automated software and advanced algorithms enable C3 to rapidly assemble extremely precise 3D models, and seamlessly integrate them with traditional 2D maps, satellite images, street level photography and user generated images, that together are forever changing how people use maps and explore the world.

On the topic of C3 technologies, a few weeks ago we heard that most of the C3 Technologies top executives that came to Apple as a part of the acquisition have left for new opportunities. It is common sight in the Silicon Valley to see acquired team members leave companies once their “job is done.” The C3 Technologies team leaving just ahead of iOS integration would be similar to Siri co-founder Dag Kittlaus leaving following Siri’s launch on the iPhone 4S late last year.

iOS 6 will likely be introduced at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in mid-June. We’ve heard that many versions of what will become a final iOS 6 product have been floating around Apple’s Cupertino labs (the iOS team likes to work on many projects and then pull them all together at the end of a development cycle), but those expecting major home screen changes or Android-like widgets might be disappointed… briefly, anyway.

Posted in: Apple,Apple iOS,Apps,Google,Google Maps