Although some users are reporting a few issues with Apple’s new iPhone 5 smartphone, the first weekend sales figures seem to indicate that users have taken the device to their hearts, with Apple looking likely to have yet another commercially successful piece of kit on their hands. The official press release also made it known that users have snapped up the opportunity to download and install iOS 6 more than one hundred million times, since it went officially live last week.
Although there are few reoccurring gripes that seem to be cropping up amongst users with the iPhone 5, one of the main one seems to be the fact that Apple have done away with Google Maps in favor of rolling out their own vector-based mapping software. There can be no denying that Google’s own maps are far more in-depth than Apple’s at the present moment in time, but the blow of having the familiar maps service removed from iOS has been softened a little by claims that an official Google Maps app is awaiting approval into the App Store.
It appears that those claims are a little premature, with Google’s own Eric Schmidt stating that the company hasn’t taken any step in providing an alternative native mapping solution on Apple’s mobile platform. It isn’t all doom and gloom however, as Schmidt does state that he and his company are in daily contact with Apple, although he doesn’t give any indication what it is they are talking about. Before the alarm bells start ringing for iOS users, it should be made clear that the comments don’t necessarily mean that no Maps app is on its way.
It would be extremely interesting to see how many of the Apple mobile device owners – who have adopted iOS 6 – would actually choose to download and use the official Google Maps offering over Apple’s own mapping system. Although the new Maps app has come under fire since the launch of iOS 6, Apple has described the software as a “major initiative” and has given indications that they will be pumping resources and manpower into fine tuning the app. While iOS users wait patiently for that to happen, I would be very surprised if we didn’t see an official Google alternative landing on the App Store.
(via Bloomberg)
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