Apple Maps adds 3D cities

12 June 2012 Geoff Zeiss

Apple has announced their new Maps application as part of iOS 6.  Peter Batty has given a very interesting assessment of what’s there and what isn’t, compared to Google, and what the future looks like for Apple iOS users.

Overall Peter was impressed with what Apple has done with the new Maps application.  The basic 2D map functionality uses vector graphics so it allows for very smooth zooming and rotating.  He said the big thing it is missing is Street View.  For you folks like myself who take public transit whenever possible, Apple is not providing transit directions.  They are being left to third parties so it is not clear at this point how that will happen.  Peter sees search for points of interest has added some nice features like Yelp and OpenTable integration, and turn by turn directions with voice guidance.  He also mentions that Siri integration (voice commands) is a huge plus for existing iPhone users.

Late last year Apple acquired C3, a Swedish company that had developed 3D technology for viewing entire cities.  Apple has added 3D city maps based on C3 technology that “looked cool as everyone expected.” But apparently Apple’s pitch is that the 3D technology is a cool extra rather than the main substance.  Peter found that the 3D buildings “definitely have a wow factor and performance is very good.”  Based on the demo Peter saw the cities for which Apple appears to provide data are

US

San Francisco
Las Vegas
Chicago
Seattle
Miami
Los Angeles

Canada

Montreal

Europe

Copenhagen

Australia

Sydney
Melbourne

Peter’s forecast is that “the great majority of the 250 million or so iPhone users will switch to using Apple Maps when iOS 6 comes out”, meaning that they will switch from Google Maps.  He speculates that if Google continues to offer Google Maps on the iPhone, they will have to provide the same features as the Android version, in particular the turn by turn navigation features.

Peter has upgraded to iOS6 beta and is providing his assessment of his experience with the new Apple Maps application on his Geothought blog.

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss has more than 20 years experience in the geospatial software industry and 15 years experience developing enterprise geospatial solutions for the utilities, communications, and public works industries. His particular interests include the convergence of BIM, CAD, geospatial, and 3D. In recognition of his efforts to evangelize geospatial in vertical industries such as utilities and construction, Geoff received the Geospatial Ambassador Award at Geospatial World Forum 2014. Currently Geoff is Principal at Between the Poles, a thought leadership consulting firm. From 2001 to 2012 Geoff was Director of Utility Industry Program at Autodesk Inc, where he was responsible for thought leadership for the utility industry program. From 1999 to 2001 he was Director of Enterprise Software Development at Autodesk. He received one of ten annual global technology awards in 2004 from Oracle Corporation for technical innovation and leadership in the use of Oracle. Prior to Autodesk Geoff was Director of Product Development at VISION* Solutions. VISION* Solutions is credited with pioneering relational spatial data management, CAD/GIS integration, and long transactions (data versioning) in the utility, communications, and public works industries. Geoff is a frequent speaker at geospatial and utility events around the world including Geospatial World Forum, Where 2.0, MundoGeo Connect (Brazil), Middle East Spatial Geospatial Forum, India Geospatial Forum, Location Intelligence, Asia Geospatial Forum, and GITA events in US, Japan and Australia. Geoff received Speaker Excellence Awards at GITA 2007-2009.

View article by Geoff Zeiss

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*