Software : Analysis: iOS 6 Maps: what went wrong? |
- Analysis: iOS 6 Maps: what went wrong?
- Filter this: Twitter unleashes free in-app photo filters
- References to Office Mobile for iOS appear on Microsoft support site
- Trent Reznor partnering with Beats by Dre for new streaming music service
- In Depth: New BlackBerry Messenger 7 update adds BBM Voice
| Analysis: iOS 6 Maps: what went wrong? Posted:  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.
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?
iOS 6 Maps: problems,problemsAt 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."
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 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".
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
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. |
| Filter this: Twitter unleashes free in-app photo filters Posted:  Twitter announced Monday that users can now edit photos with filters inside its own app, flipping the bird to one Facebook-owned entity. The site is updating its app for iPhone and Android to "introduce a few new ways to enhance the images you tweet." Google Play is seeing the new filters and though the App Store isn't showing the scopes yet, we expect those will land shortly. The news comes just hours after Instagram cut itself off from the tweet-verse. Instagram announced last week that it would remove support for Twitter Cards and followed that up by dismantling photo integration. Now, only links to Instagram photos will work in Twitter. Great 8The panic of not being able to upload artificially aged snapshots should be short lived with the updates. Twitter is introducing eight filters, ranging from black and white to vintage. Cropping and pinch to zoom are part of the editing package. The updates also bring a bird's-eye view element that lets users see how each filter will affect their photos in a single grid view. Photogs can swipe through to compare options. The final edit tool is a wand that, when tapped, implements an auto-enhance function to balance light and colors. If all this isn't simple enough, check out this vid that Twitter created to explain the filters: Let the games beginInstagram also released an update for its iOS camera Monday, adding a preview feature that pulls up the camera roll's most recent pic, an optical grid guide for lining up live photos (plus a permanent grid guide to scale and crop) and speed enhancements. The iPhone 5 camera got its own improved camera roll image selector, too, while Instagram boosted its tilt-shift feature to give your pic the same "blur" visible in the preview screen. Instagram's programers also added Foursquare integration so that when users touch a button, they enter the Foursquare app (or mobile website) and receive instant venue info. Not to be left out, the photo site feted its Android camera with a new filter (don't worry, iOS gets it too). "Willow" is optimized for portrait taking with its monochrome filter touched by purple tones and a halo of translucent white, Instagram said. Twitter, though only just starting on the photo filter path, likely has many more features to come, while Instagram, the king of social network snapping, won't relinquish its thrown without a fight. Pose off, anyone? |
| References to Office Mobile for iOS appear on Microsoft support site Posted:  Eagle-eyed Apple fans unearthed more evidence that Microsoft may be about to bestow its Office productivity suite for iOS devices Monday. French news source Mac4Ever site pointed out that references to Office products on Apple's mobile devices have started to appear within Microsoft's support pages, though the references appear to be erroneously tagged to support articles. Among the products listed on several pages across various territories are Office Mobile for iPhone, Excel for iPad and PowerPoint for iPad. Due to the multitude of references, it's likely not just a blurry-eyed mistake that these products are at least in the works. The as-yet-unannounced products are listed alongside other support tags within Microsoft's official portals in France and the United States as well. SagaThe topic of Word, Excel, Powerpoint et al. appearing on the iPhone and the iPad has become somewhat of a saga in the last couple of years. Microsoft has repeatedly denied that it plans to launch the apps, perhaps fearful that it may impact Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 device sales, but the evidence - as observed today - continues to stack up. Earlier this year, purported screenshots were decried as fake by Redmond representatives, while latest rumours have suggested a March or 'early 2013' launch for the long-awaited suite. Until we get official word from Microsoft, the suite's arrival on iOS is still speculative, though we hope these rumors end up having a ring of truth. |
| Trent Reznor partnering with Beats by Dre for new streaming music service Posted:  Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor has detailed his plans for a streaming music service to be built in collaboration with Dr. Dre's headphones company Beats by Dre. Reznor spilled his guts in this week's issue of The New Yorker, as detailed by Pitchfork on Monday. The new music streaming service is currently known as "Daisy," though it seems based on Pitchfork's language that that may be subject to change. Daisy will reportedly launch early next year and will be intended to compete directly with Spotify, and by extension Pandora, Xbox Music, and even Apple's still-unannounced iTunes Streaming service. 'Not what you're expecting'Reznor announced the partnership with Beats by Dre in October, at the time saying, "It's probably not what you're expecting." The "Closer to God" singer is reportedly helping to design Daisy, though his exact role is not totally clear. Reznor reportedly told The New Yorker that Daisy will compare favorably with Spotify, saying, "'Here's 16 million licensed pieces of music,' they've said, but you're not stumbling into anything. What's missing is a service that adds a layer of intelligent curation." Thus, Daisy "uses mathematics to offer suggestions to the listener... [but also] would present choices based partly on suggestions made by connoisseurs, making it a platform in which the machine and the human would collide more intimately," Reznor explained. It's all in the mathReznor said of existing music streaming services, "That first wave of music presentation which felt magical, the one where the songs are chosen by algorithms that know who you listened to... has begun to feel synthetic." Daisy remedies that shortcoming by offerings suggestions selected by human "connoisseurs," as Reznor put it, alongside those suggested by the service's algorithms. He reportedly said it's "like having your own guy when you go into the record store, who knows what you like but can also point you down some paths you wouldn't necessarily have encountered." As The Verge pointed out on Monday, Beats by Dre and Interscope Records acquired steaming music service MOG over the summer, though it remains to be seen whether that has anything to do with Daisy. |
| In Depth: New BlackBerry Messenger 7 update adds BBM Voice Posted:  The week got off to a good start for BlackBerry users Monday as the company announced they'll finally be able to chat with each other for free with the latest update to BlackBerry Messenger. Teased last month in the BBM 7 beta, the new feature allows users to strike up a conversation with any of their BlackBerry Messenger contacts, provided they're connected to a Wi-Fi signal. Additionally, the new voice chat feature still allows users to talk via text while chatting, which lets users enclose pictures or private statements they don't want heard aloud. BBM 7 will also include the ability to voice chat while using other aspects of the phone, such as checking emails or reading other text messages. BlackBerry OS 6 only, for nowThis latest update for BlackBerry Messenger will only be compatible with smartphones running BlackBerry OS 6 for the time being. RIM is planning to add support for BlackBerry OS 5 next year, and is also expected to include the feature in BlackBerry 10 when it finally arrives. The good news is anyone currently using a device with BlackBerry OS 6 that upgrades to a BB10 smartphone won't have much difficulty transferring contacts. An additional feature of BBM 7 is the welcome ability to link all contacts and groups to a specific BlackBerry ID, where it can be accessed on whatever device that ID logs into. There are also 17 new emoticons being added with this update (insert smiley face), as well as better upgrade notifications which will be delivered straight from the app itself. The BBM 7 update started rolling out, and should be available to everyone within the next 24 hours. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from TechRadar: All latest Applications news feeds To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment