It has, by and large, been a pretty good past week or two for Apple, and with stocks rising thanks to high sales forecasts of the iPhone 5, Tim Cook and his team have plenty to feel positive about. Having said that, iOS 6 hasn’t released to such critical acclaim, and although it offers quite a few minor improvements in many key areas, one of the most anticipated changes – the new Maps app – looks to have been a marked fail.
Google Maps has been present on iOS from the very first iPhone, but it has long since been public knowledge that Apple wished to eradicate Google’s software at stock level on its iDevice range. It does, on one hand, make sense for Apple to want everything in-house – particularly with the large sums Google received for both Search and Maps – but in practice, Apple’s replacement has left much to be desired.
Beta testers of iOS 6 have known for a while now that Apple Maps – despite offering 3D mapping as its main, significant feature – doesn’t really measure up to the Google iteration, but many had hoped Apple would sort things out before iOS 6 finally began rolling out to the end-user. That has not turned out to be the case, though, and as Google promises iOS users its Maps app will it the App Store in the near future, many have opted to use the web version as opposed to utilizing the native app.
With Apple’s main rivals having taken it in turns to slander the company in the run-up to the iPhone 5, such a furor presents a golden opportunity for competing brands to capitalize. Motorola, owned by Google after the recent acquisition was finally completed, has seized its chance to poke some fun at Apple, and is trying to get a little Twitter trend going in the process. A tweet, which can also be found on Motorola Mobility’s Google+ page, reads:
Looking for 315 E 15th in Manhattan? Google Maps on DROID RAZR M will get you there & not #iLost in Brooklyn.
With plenty of comedians having been born over the past 48 hours thanks to their humorous take on the apparent Maps fail, it’s more than likely the #iLost tag will soon catch on, and although the release of Google Maps for iOS 6 will no doubt see an end to the debate, don’t be surprised to see the #iLost parade gather momentum.
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