Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Apple : In Depth: Has Apple abandoned pro users?

Apple : In Depth: Has Apple abandoned pro users?

In Depth: Has Apple abandoned pro users?

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In Depth: Has Apple abandoned pro users?

When Phil Schiller introduced the Mac Pro to audiences at WWDC 2006, he was clearly in awe. "I am so excited," he said, during the presentation.

"This is the Mac so many of our highest end customers have dreamed of."

At WWDC 2012, Schiller was excited about the Retina MacBook Pro. After two years of neglect, the Mac Pro received a derisory refresh: a speed bump to the processors, but no new graphics hardware, no Thunderbolt and no USB 3.0.

"The only high-end thing about it is the price," wrote Andy Hertzfeld, who helped design the original Mac. In 2009, Tim Cook said that Apple would "participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution." Is the pro market still one of them?

Say it with towers

Apple APerture

If by 'pro market' you mean 'Mac Pro market', then in financial terms the answer is probably no.

Apple canned the Xserve server in late 2010 on the grounds that hardly anybody was buying it, and the Mac Pro's position is looking similarly shaky: it's a tiny bit of Apple's PC business, which in turn is dwarfed by iOS.

In its most recent financial quarter, Q3 2012, Apple brought in $16 billion from the iPhone, $9 billion from the iPad and just under $5 billion from Macs, and of the four million Macs it sold, three million were laptops.

That leaves one million iMacs, Mac minis and Mac Pros, and while Apple doesn't break down the sales of its individual models it does say that its 1,010,000 desktop sales brought in revenues of $1,287,000,000. That works out as an average selling price (ASP) of $1,274.

That's just $75 more than the cheapest iMac and just over half the price of a basic Mac Pro, so it suggests that Mac Pros aren't flying out of Cupertino in enormous quantities.

It seems that copies of Apple's pro programs weren't flying off the shelves either, because Apple appears to be repositioning its pro apps towards the bigger prosumer market: the latest versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro are significantly cheaper than their predecessors, and in the case of Final Cut Pro X, many pro customers were appalled by a release that, they felt, skipped crucial features and backwards compatibility.

What's interesting about those programs is that you don't need a Mac Pro to run them. Could Apple's workstation go the way of the Xserve?

Mac Pro: oh no

Nvidia graphics

The argument for the Mac Pro is simple enough: while consumer Macs have become significantly more powerful in recent years - for example, Thunderbolt replaces the need for a big tower's various expansion slots and Grand Central Dispatch has been making the most of multi-core consumer Macs since OS X 10.6 - there's still a large gap between the maximum storage, RAM and processing power in a consumer Mac and in a Mac Pro.

Where ordinary Macs come with single quad-core processors, Mac Pros can be configured with twelve cores; where desktop Macs run out of RAM at 16 or 32GB, Mac Pros can handle 64GB, and so on. It's a machine for Apple's big-spending customers who expect cutting-edge tech.

This year, they didn't get it. As Andy Hertzfeld put it: "Still no Thunderbolt, still no USB 3.0, no SATA III or RAM speed improvements - it seems like it's stuck in time in 2010." And he's got a valid point: while maxing out the options list can take the 2012 Mac Pro well past the £10,000 mark, the top-end graphics option is a pair of £100 ATI Radeons that have been around since 2009.

Hertzfeld wasn't the only person with concerns. Instapaper creator Marco Arment wrote: "If you wanted to kill a product line, an 'update' like today's would be a good way to clear out parts and keep selling to a few desperate buyers for a bit longer without any real investment."

Lou Borella was worried too. After two Mac Pros, a G5, G4, Mac mini, iMac, four iPods, four iPhones and four Apple laptops, it's safe to say he's a pretty loyal Apple customer. But as a video professional he had been so concerned at the lack of Mac Pro updates that he set up a Facebook page to try and raise awareness of pro users' concerns.

"We have no desire to go to the dark side and buy a Windows machine," Borella wrote, "we've held out as long as we can… it's really not fair to string us along like this." To date, the page has attracted an impressive 18,492 Likes.

When the Mac Pro was refreshed, Borella's joy quickly turned sour. It "was definitely disappointing," Borella told us, adding: "I don't know how they thought they could call that an update. It screamed of desperation."

So what would he have liked to see? "The paltry selection of graphics card options is turning out to be the biggest problem for us," he says. "Adobe is in bed with Nvidia, and CS6 basically requires a CUDA-capable card to run all of the fun stuff in After Effects CS6, and there are very few options for Mac Pro users.

"But Nvidia has plenty of great choices for the PC crowd. We really should start another movement for better graphic card options on the Mac platform."

Dough for pros

Apple Final Cut Pro

Is the Mac Pro the canary in the coal mine, a sign that Apple is losing interest in its loyal pro users? Brad Peebler says no.

The president of award-winning 3D software firm Luxology, creators of modo 3D, certainly doesn't feel neglected. "Let's clarify things a bit," he says.

"When we talk about professional users we are really discussing content creators. So the question is, does Apple care about content creators? My personal opinion is that they care a whole hell of a lot about content creators."

As Peebler points out, Apple is hardly neglecting the content-creation market. "The core of their business is driven by content, but that content is different today than it was three to five years ago," he says.

"For those who feel Apple has left them behind, consider this: they have given the content-creation market new technologies, such as Thunderbolt and market-leading mobile workstations (don't call those Retina-wielding MacBook Pros 'laptops').

"But perhaps more importantly, they have provided a revolutionary new distribution model to get video, music, games and apps to a giant market of iPad and iPhone users, aka 'content consumers'."

This year's WWDC might not have mentioned the Mac Pro, but it spent an awful lot of time on iOS and the iTunes ecosystem. That ecosystem has already netted $5 billion for developers, as well as generating billions across the music, publishing and video industries, and the widely anticipated apps for Apple TV are likely to generate significant revenues too.

What's Tim Cooking?

Apple Logic Studio

Apple, of course, doesn't comment on its future plans, let alone confirm or deny the existence of future products - but one of Lou Borella's Mac Pro users, known as Franz, managed to get Apple to do just that.

In an email, Tim Cook replied to Franz and said: "Our Pro customers like you are really important to us. Although we didn't have a chance to talk about a new Mac Pro [at WWDC], don't worry as we're working on something really great for later next year." Cook also took the opportunity to plug the Retina MacBook Pro, which he called "a great solution for many pros."

We asked Borella whether that was enough to keep him from the dark side. "Some people on the Facebook page have jumped ship, either to Windows or Hackintosh," Borella says, but Cook's promise is keeping him with Apple for the next year or two.

By sticking an Nvidia GTX570 into his 2008 Mac Pro, "I'm set for the next 12-18 months, and if the new Apple machine is released at that time and suits my needs then I'll be set for another two years after that."

Shhhh! It's a secret!

The pro market is one area where Apple's legendary secrecy can be a problem. "We are not typical consumers," Borella says. "If the high-end product update cycles are going to continue to be this staggered then we need to have an idea of what the timeframes are."

As he points out, production studios need to plan ahead. If he could say one thing to Tim Cook on behalf of his fellow pros, what would it be?

"Now it's obvious that Apple's focus has shifted to the mobile market, the pro market needs to be reassured that there will be hardware and software that will allow us to continue our business practices," he says. "The little peek behind the curtain that Tim Cook granted us after WWDC was definitely a step in the right direction. I just hope they keep it up."

For Brad Peebler, it's the big picture that matters. "Sure, I'd love to see Apple moving faster on the Mac Pro development line," he says, "but I'll take Tim Cook at his word that they have something coming. In the meantime, perhaps rather than whining about the lack of a new computer, people should get to work making content that takes advantage of the huge new market Apple has created for us."

Updated: Apple iTV release date, news and rumours

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Updated: Apple iTV release date, news and rumours

Apple iTV rumours: what you need to know

We love our new Full HD Apple TV, but we're not sure Apple does: the firm's more interested in getting iPads into your living room than Apple TVs under your flat screen.

Apple says the Apple TV is a hobby, but it turns out the company is thinking bigger. Much, much bigger: it wants to sell you the entire TV set, not a little box beneath it.

In a 15 February earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted again at the release of something bigger and better than the current Apple TV (credit CNN Money).

"With Apple TV, however, despite the barriers in [the TV set top box] market, for those of us who use it, we've always thought there was something there. And that if we kept following our intuition and kept pulling the string, then we might find something that was larger.

"For those people that have it right now, the customer satisfaction is off the charts. But we need something that could go more main market for it to be a serious category."

However, it is possible that he meant a set top box, and rumours have continued to rumble on that Apple is in talks with US cable providers over a new version of its existing Apple TV box.

FutTv : SNcCn61A339dr

Apple isn't the only one dropping big hints either - manufacturer Foxconn had to refute reports in late May that it had begun to produce the Apple iTV after a story emerged quoting chief executive, Terry Gua, as saying Foxconn was "making preparations for iTV."

However, more speculation citing Foxconn involvement emerged in December 2012.

Here are all the rumours and speculation surrounding the Apple iTV, which some have also claimed may end up with the surely unlikely name of the Apple iPanel.

Apple iTV release date

Most rumours predict a 2013 Apple iTV release date. The New York Times says that price, not technology, is the problem: Apple is waiting for the cost of large LCD panels to fall further before building iTVs.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster suggested in November 2012 that the iTV would come out a year later, in November of 2013.

This is big change in Munster's thinking. Earlier this year Munster was calling for Apple to announce the Apple television in December, then release it in the first half of 2013.

As AppleInsider says. "Most notably, he expects Apple will launch a television set in time for the holiday 2013 shopping season. He expects the product to be priced between $1,500 and $2,000, with screen sizes between 42 and 55 inches."

As Business Insider says, Munster doesn't provide any reason for his thinking.

However, some rumours in May 2012 suggested that we won't see the Apple iTV until 2014.

In December 2012 Wall Street Journal sources said that various TV prototypes have been on the company's slate for a number of years.

Apple iTV design

In mid-May a new report from Cult of Mac claimed one of their contacts saw a working prototype of the Apple TV. The report claimed that Siri and iSight will feature (so face and voice recognition then), while the design is similar to that of an Apple Cinema Display.

The Telegraph says that "sources within the company" say that Jeff Robbin, the man who helped create the iPod, is leading the team. Apple has seemingly denied rumours that it is working with French designer Philippe Starck. Remember when he worked with Microsoft on a mouse?

However, it appears that Starck was actually working on another project, a yacht, with Steve Jobs before his death.

On 13 May 2011, we reported that Apple is rumoured to be in talks to buy TV manufacturer Loewe. AppleInsider wrote that talks have entered the advanced stages and Loewe is expected to make a decision on Apple's offer within the next week.

Apple iTV specifications and display

Engadget predicts an A5 processor and 1080p video - neither of which are a huge surprise, granted.

Australian tech site Smarthouse says that the Apple iTV will come in three sizes, including 32-inch and 55-inch models.

Sources at "a major Japanese company who are involved in manufacturing the TV" reckon the sets will have the same processor as the forthcoming iPad 3, which presumably means an Apple A6.

Smarthouse isn't usually the go-to site for Apple rumours, but its report echoes similar claims by respected Apple analyst Gene Munster, who told the recent Future of Media conference that Apple will make its TV in a range of sizes.

March, June and December 2012 rumours pointed at Sharp being the manufacturing partner. SlashGear says work on components is already under way. In mid April, Sharp announced it had begun production of 32-inch HI-DPI LCD panels at its Kameyama Plant No. 2 - could these be the panels destined for the Apple iTV?

Apple contractor Foxconn's parent company has made a rather large investment in Sharp - does this indicate something we wonder?

Both companies were apparently working together to 'test' TV designs in the December 2012 rumours.

Apple iTV operating system

As with the Apple TV, any iTV is likely to run iOS, albeit in slightly disguised form. Compatibility with other iOS devices is a given: current Apple TVs already accept video streamed via AirPlay and access shared iTunes libraries. We'll be amazed if the iTV doesn't get apps.

Expect Apple iTV and Apple TV to work more like iOS does on the iPad; the newest iOS 6 Beta for the Apple TV enables app icons to be moved around the homescreen just like on the iPhone and iPad.

That has led some observers to conclude that the rumoured App Store for Apple's favourite 'hobby project' might be on the way sooner rather than later.

Apple iTV and iCloud

Steve Jobs told his biographer: "I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."

According to one source which claims to have seen the device, the new TV has Siri and FaceTime.

Apple iTV remote control

Munster says the iTV will come with an ordinary remote control, and will be controllable with iPhones, iPod touches and iPads, but the real remote control will be Siri.

Apple's voice recognition system will be the heart of the new Apple TV, enabling you to choose channels and control the TV's functions with voice alone. That means " the simplest user interface you could imagine" is voice.

However, according to a new patent filed in March 2012, Apple has come up with the design for an advanced universal remote that would also be compatible with your iPhone and iPad.

Apple iTV AirPlay mirroring

After AirPlay mirroring from Mac to Apple TV was present in the developer preview of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, it's not a great leap to suggest that the Apple iTV could mirror the display of your Mac or iPad wirelessly too. AirPlay mirroring is now 1080p with the new iPad and new Apple TV.

When a prototype was reportedly 'seen' it did feature AirPlay.

Apple iTV programmes

While the iTV will get content from iTunes and iCloud, it's not going to be completely separate from current TV broadcasters: Munster says that you'll still need a cable TV subscription and decoder because Apple doesn't have enough content.

We're not sure whether it would play nicely with Freeview and Freeview HD here in the UK, but perhaps a DVB-T compatible unit will arrive as part of a second generation.

As of 6 March 2012, rumours were continually doing the rounds that, as the New York Post reports, Apple is planning to launch a music streaming service this side of Christmas.

On 13 March, Les Moonves, who is CEO at CBS, says he was the recipient of a pitch from Steve Jobs regarding his network's participation in a subscription-based service, but turned him down. Apple is also rumoured to be talking about getting partners involved for movie streaming.

His reasoning? Moonves says he was worried about damaging the network's existing revenue streams through broadcast and cable television.

The main question is whether Apple will open the door for third-party content, like the BBC iPlayer, Sky Go and 4oD and other apps we've seen on connected TV platforms. These may well arrive with apps - the Apple TV SDK will pull on the iTV ecosystem and we're expecting apps to be available for Apple TV too.

Mind you, it's also been claimed that Apple will seek to cut traditional TV providers out of the content loop.

Apple iTV price

Gene Munster reckons that the iTV will be twice the price of a similarly sized TV. Ouch. However, new March 2012 rumours point at a subsidised launch - courtesy of various partners.

Apple iTV picture quality

If the iTV does appear, it won't leave manufacturers quaking in their boots. That's according to Samsung's Chris Moseley who told Pocket-Lint in early February 2012 that the firm isn't overly concerned with what Apple launches if it decides to enter the TV market

"We've not seen what they've done but what we can say is that they don't have 10,000 people in R&D in the vision category," he says.

"They don't have the best scaling engine in the world and they don't have world renowned picture quality that has been awarded more than anyone else."

Apple iTV gaming and apps

Although most of the rumours so far have been about the hardware involved in the iTV, gaming may be a major focus of the new device. Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted in mid-April at the HQ of Valve Software, the company behind gaming platform Steam. Some rumours are drawing more from this meeting, saying Apple could be producing a Kinect-style gesture-based console. But this is likely to be part and parcel of the iTV.

New Apple iTV speculation puts Sharp in the picture

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New Apple iTV speculation puts Sharp in the picture

Apple's mythical iTV set is back in the news as shady sources let slip that Sharp and Foxconn are testing designs for the fruity company.

The rumour comes from the Wall Street Journal, which cites anonymous insiders in Asia confirming that several designs are in the works, with Apple 'collaborating' with Sharp on the design of the project.

But the sources warned that the iTV project is still in its infancy: "It isn't a formal project yet," they said. "It is still in the early stage of testing."

And, before the Apple fans and television lovers get together and start planning their launch day parties, it's worth noting that the sources also said that various TV prototypes have been on the company's slate for a number of years.

Intense interest

Tim Cook, the company's CEO, recently re-confirmed that TV has become "an area of intense interest" for the company; but he wasn't giving any more than that away.

The rumour mill, for its part, has had Apple's TV designed, built, scheduled for release and delayed over the course of 2012, with feverish reports suggesting a harrowing wait until 2013 at the earliest.

At this point, nothing is confirmed other than Apple's "intense interest" - which suggests that its designs on the television extend further than it's little hobby, the Apple TV set top box.

Apple and Microsoft at odds over SkyDrive revenue

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Apple and Microsoft at odds over SkyDrive revenue

The SkyDrive app may not have much of a future on iOS according to a new report detailing Microsoft's refusal to share revenue with Apple.

Microsoft recently introduced the ability to purchase more cloud storage for SkyDrive in-app, and reportedly balked at sharing that revenue with its Cupertino cohort.

The App Store's policy dictates Apple will receive 30 percent of all app sales, as well as 30 percent of all revenue generated by in-app purchases.

Apple would continue to earn 30 percent of the SkyDrive subscription fees even if a consumer no longer used an iOS device, which caused Microsoft to rethink its stance on profit-sharing.

As a result, Apple is now blocking Microsoft's latest update to SkyDrive, despite repeated tries from Microsoft to work out some kind of arrangement.

Third-party problems

Sources familiar with the issue told The Next Web Microsoft has been trying to work out a compromise with Apple, but hasn't had much success.

Microsoft reportedly even said it would remove all subscription options from the app, thus removing the SkyDrive app's ability to generate revenue, but Apple rebuffed the offer.

Since neither party has been able to resolve the issue, an update fixing a bug that crashes SkyDrive on iOS hasn't been pushed to consumers.

Microsoft confirmed in statement to several news outlets, including The Verge, that its latest SkyDrive iOS update is being delayed by Apple, though there was no mention as to what was causing the hold up.

"Similar to the experiences of some other companies, we are experiencing a delay in approval of our updated SkyDrive for iOS," a company spokesperson said.

"We are in contact with Apple regarding the matter and hope to come to a resolution."

Even more disconcerting are the ramifications being felt by developers who have third-party apps that work in conjunction with SkyDrive.

Several of the apps in question require users to sign into SkyDrive, but Apple's review team has denied such access claiming "the log in interface must be native and not a link or a web view."

In other words, since users won't have to log in through Apple, and would instead be able to log in through Microsoft, the apps are being cut off until Microsoft agrees to pay.

The whole story?

Though The Next Web's sources point out this SkyDrive tussle is causing mounting friction between Apple and Microsoft, there may be another twist to the story.

According to AllThingsD, the squeeze is being put on SkyDrive due to Microsoft's desire to renegotiate the 70/30 revenue split with Apple over Office 365 subscriptions.

The sources close to the matter didn't divulge just what kind of split Microsoft was seeking instead, but did say Apple is reticent to change its policies, even for a massive money maker like Office.

Office Mobile for iOS isn't due to arrive until sometime next year, which gives Microsoft some time to continue negotiations with Apple, even if those talks come at the cost of SkyDrive's users.

Apple's policies shouldn't be new information for anyone involved in developing apps for iOS, so it will be interesting to see just how much flexibility will be given to Microsoft as the discussions progress.

TechRadar asked Microsoft and Apple for further comment, and will update this article when and if the companies respond.

Analysis: iOS 6 Maps: what went wrong?

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Analysis: iOS 6 Maps: what went wrong?

With relations between Google and Apple becoming increasingly strained, it should have come as no surprise that Apple would, at some point, drop the Google Maps application from its mobile operating system.

That change happened with iOS 6. However the introduction of the new Apple Maps wasn't quite the success that Apple would have liked it to be; in fact, it's been something of a PR disaster.

Offering new features like turn-by-turn navigation, vector graphics and an new Fly-over view for zooming around 3D buildings, Apple Maps initially looked like it was going to be an improvement over Google Maps.

But very quickly iOS 6 upgraders began to notice problems: directions took them the wrong way, a phantom airport appeared near Dublin and Aukland's main train station appeared to be located in the middle of the sea.

Apple Vector maps

Sites like theamazingios6maps began to spring up showing screen shots of even more Maps faux pas, particularly with the new 3D view and satellite images. Whole towns were obscured by clouds, the famous Brooklyn Bridge seemed to have collapsed and cars looked melted into roads.

But worst of all, the maps were inaccurate and often omitted important buildings, roads and rivers. The New York Times' David Pogue wrote: "In short, Maps is an appalling first release. It may be the most embarrassing, least usable piece of software Apple has ever unleashed."

Apple rarely rushes out software that's as poor as Maps, so what went wrong?

Booklyn Bridge

iOS 6 Maps: problems,problems

At the launch of the iPhone 5, Apple's head of iOS, Scott Forstall, confidentially demonstrated the new Maps app giving no indication that it was going to be anything other than wonderful. Indeed, the Apple website described Maps as "The most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever."

Battersea Bridge

Yet within a week that description was changed to, "All in a beautiful vector-based interface that scales and zooms with ease", and Apple CEO Tim Cook had posted an apology letter on Apple's website saying, "We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better."

Forstall subsequently left Apple. As a result, Jony Ive, senior vice president of industrial design, will add the leadership and direction of "Human Interface" to his to-do list.

Siri and Maps now fall under Eddy Cue, chief of internet software and services, a move that Apple said placed "all of our online services into one group."

Those online services include the iTunes Store, App Store and iCloud.

It seems as though Apple itself was caught by surprise by the inaccuracy of Maps, almost as if it had become too obsessed with the new technologies it incorporated and missed the obvious - that the most important thing about any navigation solution has to be the accuracy of its maps.

However, it emerged that app developers raised concerns about the poor quality of Apple's Maps back as far back as June, it has been revealed.

Several anonymous developers revealed to CNET that it was obvious early on that the Google Maps replacement was not up to scratch and weren't shy about informing Apple through several official channels.

These developers, who now rely on the app to power features within their apps, had access to the Maps platform as soon as the Beta version of iOS 6 was outed following WWDC four months ago.

One of the developers in question said: "I posted at least one doomsayer rant after each (developer) Beta, and I wasn't alone."

Why ditch Google?

Apple Maps

Apple Maps actually gets some of its mapping data from TomTom, which, if you've ever used the system before, you'll know is very reliable.

TomTom has over 30 years of mapping experience, so obviously something got lost in translation when Apple imported the data into its own mapping app.

While there have been obvious technical failures, the big question is why Apple had to ditch the reliable Google Maps in the first place.

It's a long story that stretches back to the days when Google CEO Eric Schmidt occupied a prized place on Apple's board, in the pre-Android days when Google wasn't in direct competition with Apple in the mobile space. If you watch the launch of the original iPhone in 2007 on YouTube you'll even see Eric Schmidt sharing the stage with Steve Jobs to introduce Google Maps on the iPhone.

"You can't think about the Internet without thinking about Google," said Jobs as he introduced Schmidt. In fact the companies were so close at the time that Schmidt even joked about merging them into "Applegoo".

Colchester

Fast-forward a couple of years and the Applegoo love-fest had turned sour. Schmidt quit the Apple board and Google launched Android, leaving Steve Jobs apoplectic with rage, accusing Google of stealing Apple's ideas.

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong," Jobs told his biographer Walter Isaacson. "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

While both companies are blaming each other for dropping the Google Maps app from iOS 6, the key sticking point seems to have been turn-by-turn navigation. Google Maps on Android has it, and Apple wanted to incorporate it into iOS 6.

Google naturally wasn't keen to give away one of Android's key advantages, and it became clear Apple would have to go its own way if it wanted this feature on the iPhone.

New tech

Hoover Dam

Despite a difficult birth, Apple Maps does have the potential to be great. While Google Maps uses a series of graphical tiles to represents different zoom levels, Apple Maps was built from the ground up to use vector images, so zooming in and out is super smooth.

It's also faster and requires far less data to be delivered over the internet, since processing the different zoom levels can all be done on the phone without having to reload the graphics for each stage.

Street View is still unique to Google Maps though, and there are no plans for Apple to adopt a similar system, which most see as a major disadvantage.

In one sense the Apple Maps fiasco is just a short-term problem for Apple. As users report the problems, and they get fixed, Maps will get better and better. We'd expect Maps to be in pretty good shape by this time next year.

But many are left wondering whether Apple should have been so bold about Maps at the launch of the iPhone 5 if they knew that there were so many problems with it. With hindsight it might have been better to announce that it was in beta, and was expected to improve over time - after all, that's what Google seems to do with all its web products.

Google Maps has existed for a good number of years now - and with hindsight it seems impossible to expect a brand new mapping application to have the same level of detail and accuracy as such an established product.

Perhaps the good news is that Apple Maps is not set in stone; Apple encourages all its users to submit reports of any inaccuracies, so it should improve over time - there's also a new iOS 6.1 beta, too.

And will a Google Maps app ever appear in iOS 6? There are rumours that we'll get it, but we'd say don't hold your breath. Nokia, however, has capitalised on the issue and has released its decent HERE mapping on iOS.

The rift between Apple and Google is only going to keep on widening.

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