July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Gmail released a minor update for its official Gmail app for iPhones and iPads today.

The biggest change: When you click on a link for a YouTube video, Google map address, or a URL, the app will take you directly to the corresponding Google app: YouTube, Google Maps, or Chrome.

That will keep you in Google’s world for longer, even though you’re not using Google’s phone.

Previously, links in Gmail would open up a page within the Gmail app’s built-in browser.

It’s a clever workaround for a fact that Google must find very awkward: Unlike on Android, Apple won’t let app developers make their apps into the default handlers for certain kinds of actions. URLs always open up the built-in browser, Safari, unless app developers choose to embed a browser within their own app.

But, with the new Gmail, it appears that app developers can do a sort of workaround, by creating a “suite” of linked apps that work together as a self-contained ecosystem.

The new app is free, available now, and requires iOS 5.0 or later. It’s optimized for the iPhone 5 but also works on the iPod Touch and iPad.

Hat tip: CNet

Screenshots: iTunes App Store

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple has been given a hard time about the accuracy of its Maps app in iOS, and yes, the company deserved it. But at least it looks like Apple is taking more serious steps to address issues by hiring “ground truth managers.”

Most of that Maps data is being improved on the server-side, and Apple recently released iOS 6.1.3 with several improvements to Maps.

The company has posted seven openings on its jobs website for “ground truth managers,” all in different parts of the world. These managers are basically assigned to oversee regional teams that collect and improve map data. The teams test new data in the real world to make sure it is accurate.

Here’s the job description for the U.S.-based “ground truth manager”:

The Maps team is searching for a manager for the team responsible for regional map quality and ground truth in the U.S. Each of our regional teams is responsible for the quality of our maps in their region. This team’s responsibilities include:

• Testing new releases of map code and data around the U.S.
• Collecting ground truth data to allow for analysis of the impact of potential map code or data changes relative to known truth.
• Utilizing local expertise to provide feedback about U.S.-specific mapping details.
• Evaluating competing products in-region relative to our maps.

As the manager of this team, you will be expected to drive all of this team’s work, determine where and how to allocate resources and clearly communicate test results and other feedback to teams in Cupertino. The U.S. regional team is also responsible for driving communication between engineering teams in Cupertino and our other regional teams as well as evaluating new regional testing initiatives in close coordination with the rest of the Maps quality team before those initiatives are rolled out to the other regional teams.

The job requires a “Bachelor’s degree in any field with CS or geography/GIS preferred” and a willingness to travel around the United States once or twice every few months.

Openings are available for the U.S., Japan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APAC, Americas, and the Mideast and Africa.

Photo illustration via Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat
Original investigator photo via Shutterstock

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

No more unauthorized lock screen access for you!

Apple has released iOS 6.1.3, an update to its mobile operating system that squashes a nasty lock screen bug that could allow unauthorized access to your iPhone, and improves Apple’s much-maligned Maps app.

The lock screen, which is supposed to increase security, was hit with two recent bugs that could allow people in possession of your phone access to your contacts, voicemail, and photos. The first was fairly complicated and the second was simpler, but both involved initiating an emergency call and then canceling it.

In any case, both should be impossible now (I’m sure Apple engineers have their fingers crossed).

Apple also updated its Maps app via the system update, saying that the app would now be better in Japan. That’s a little strange, as most improvements to Maps recently have been server-side, not requiring an app update — and certainly not requiring an operating-system-level update.

In the past few months, Apple has been feverishly updating Maps with new flyovers in 30 global cities including Berlin, London, and Rome, new 3-D building imagery for Milan, Barcelona, Dublin, and nine other cities, and new Chinese maps.

Updating the iPhone’s mapping capability via a system software update, however, suggests that Apple is tying Maps deeper into the base operating system itself. Apple’s Map Kit Framework Reference already enables embedding maps directly into third-party apps, as well as supporting annotations, overlays, and reverse-geocoding lookups.

Perhaps this update will precipitate a few new capabilities for app developers.

The update is available immediately, and was only 18.2 MB for me.

Marcus Thielking is cofounder of Skobbler, a provider of mobile map-based solutions that use OpenStreetMap data.

Map lovers, 2012 was our year.

From Apple unveiling and then apologizing for Apple Maps, to the emergence of the collaborative and crowdsourced OpenStreetMap, for those fascinated by digital mapping technologies, 2012 was a critical point in time. And with location-based services powered by map data expected to reach 1.4 billion users by 2014, you can bet the innovation and competition we witnessed will continue in 2013.

So, what’s next? Here are the top five moments I expect we’ll see in the digital maps space in 2013:

1. OpenStreetMap gets better

With over one million contributors to date, a number that has doubled approximately every 14 months since 2005 and shows no signs of slowing, the OpenStreetMap — affectionately known as the “Wikipedia of maps”— is quickly becoming one of the most popular mapping platforms on the planet. And, the more users lend the project their location expertise, the better OpenStreetMap’s data will ultimately turn out to be. In fact, today, OpenStreetMap has already become the most detailed digital map available in countries like England and Germany. With its ever-increasing user base, the data can only continue to improve. This is hugely important for developers seeking to build their own location-based products and services.

Beyond just being cost effective, OpenStreetMap delivers levels of detail, accuracy (beyond just the street networks) and flexibility not possible with some of the more traditional map players. As the platform advances thanks to user growth, developers in need of mapping data will continue to abandon relationships with guys like Google Maps, TomTom and others, integrating OpenStreetMap data into their own offerings.

2. Apple Maps will get better, too

Apple Maps has been categorized by many as the company’s largest black eye (at least recently). Not only did the app suffer from a data issue, but it was clear the company didn’t have the right team in place building the product, as it couldn’t fully deliver on the fundamentals (like putting bridges in the right places). It was a colossal letdown that led to firings and public apologies, and I guess this should be the case, given this, this, or this. Here’s the thing, though, for all of the criticisms, Apple Maps will only get better.

Whether it will come internally (unlikely), or from the integration with an external mapping party of some sort (see Apple’s rumored acquisition of Waze, although, I think a company like TomTom makes more sense given their base technology and mapping talent), look for Apple to improve on its service. Google knows this and won’t stop updating its own map so as to take full advantage of its head start and ensure that its market position will remain solidified. Apple doubters remember, though – and there are quite a few doubters out there today – the company has long been a bastion of innovation in every arena, so expect the Maps product to slowly find its way back and be a very big player in 2013.

3. Google Maps will lose some of its luster

Apple Maps was the best thing ever to happen to Google Maps. Upon its release, people realized just how valuable Google’s service was through comparison. They also realized how important maps were more generally. For the end-user, the effort and skill required to produce a digital map was, for once, clear. The press for Google was unsurprisingly positive. It couldn’t have asked for a better situation.

However, a mere few months prior, the seemingly unflappable Google was the one on the receiving end, seeing negative press for Google Maps after deciding to charge high-volume users of its maps API. The moment positioned Google as the corporate entity that it is, rather than a driver of innovation. That’s when we started to see defections en masse from Google Maps to the OpenStreetMap, with Foursquare, Wikipedia, and even Apple, leading the charge. While Google has since reversed course, it’s an issue that will crop up again soon and perhaps shift the narrative – in a negative way – for Google.

4. Partnerships to differentiate

For end users interested in a great mapping experience, whether it’s for navigation, direction-finding, and the like, maps can begin to seem redundant. More competition means more mapping services, but it should also mean more originality, allowing one platform to differentiate itself from the next. Google Maps, for instance, has Street View as a feature and is rolling out 3D functionality to stand out from a flood of new challengers. However, in order to be truly unique in an increasingly cluttered space, there are more creative opportunities for map makers to take advantage of, namely through partnerships with other location-based services that are eager to benefit from the scale afforded through map services.

For instance, take Nooly, a startup that allows you to view the weather, in real-time, for any point of interest (it’s location-based via GPS and seems to use Google Maps, currently). Partnering with them and leveraging their API would provide a great end-user benefit and allow a map service to carve out a true point of differentiation relative to other players. I think we’ll see more partnerships like this throughout the year.

5. More maps to come

With mobile proliferation, maps are becoming more and more essential each day, therefore, it only makes sense that more services will pop up, and that more existing companies will want a piece of the pie (Apple entering the fray is really just the beginning). This was especially true in 2012 – think Amazon’s November announcement – and it will only continue in 2013. Could Facebook, for example, enter the mapping space? The recent debut of its Graph Search function could make that a possibility, given location’s centrality to any search platform (and, if Facebook ever does decide to move forward with its own smartphone, a map will be core to that service, as well).

Now, these are just a few possibilities I think we’ll see in the mapping space this year.

Did I miss anything? What do you think will be some of the key map moments in 2013?

photo credit: Carla216 via photopin cc

We’ve seen a great deal of speculation in the past week about Apple buying a company to help it solve its nagging mapping headache. The big rumor, both started and squashed by TechCrunch, was Waze, the crowdsourced mapping and traffic app.

The only problem with that theory? Waze would only slow Apple down.

At least, according to Skobbler’s Marcus Thielking. He’s the cofounder of Skobbler, a spinoff from Navigon that sells one of the top mapping solutions in the world: GPS Navigation 2. It’s got a No. 1 sales ranking in app stores in 20 countries and has sold more than three million copies. It’s also based on OpenStreetMap, the crowdsourced “Wikipedia of maps.”

“There are only two companies that could possibly make sense for Apple to buy,” Thielking said this morning from Europe. “There’s Garmin, which doesn’t use TomTom, on which Apple Maps is built, and there’s TomTom itself. TomTom would be my bet.”

The problem that Apple faces? Buying just any mapping company is not a solution. Apple needs a quick fix — something on the order of months, not years — and buying a company with an incompatible dataset or base technology would ensure a long, painful integration process.

“Purchasing a company that has the talent but does not necessarily solve their issues right away … it could be feasible, but it would probably take a two-year time frame … and that’s not what Apple is looking for,” he told me.

And the core mapping technology is not even what Waze is focused on anymore, according to Thielking, who sees Waze as having pivoted from its initial vision of mapping toward traffic solutions for drivers. That’s significant, because the hard part of mapping is not necessarily the basic grid of the roads: It’s the details in navigation and the richness of local data.

That hard part is why Skobbler uses OpenStreetMap data. With more than a million contributions as of today or tomorrow, the dataset is unsurpassed in some regions — especially in hyperlocal data — and growing quickly in many others. But Apple can’t use OpenStreetMap, according to Thielking, since as a global company it cannot simply focus on the areas where OSM has good data — it needs a global solution with a fairly high global level of quality.

And it needs that solution quickly.

“Owning a digital map these days and especially in the future is an incredibly valuable resource. It’s very hard to copy and very fundamental to everything, particularly in an era of mobile solutions and mobile data,” Thielking says. “That is why Google is doing what they’re doing … and it’s one of the reasons why Apple is in this space.”

Apple wanted to trump Google’s mapping product, but blew it in terms of recognizing the massive complexity of any mapping product, Thielking told me.

All of which means that if there’s any company that Apple might or should be looking to acquire, it would be TomTom.

photo credit: Dunechaser via photopin cc

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple is in talks with with Foursquare to bring local data into Apple’s Maps application, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Apple has already integrated reviews and other local information from Yelp within its maps, and according to the WSJ it has also been in talks with other companies swimming with local data.

It makes sense for Apple to tap Foursquare next — the company emerged as the winner in the location check-in wars a few years ago, but now it’s positioning itself more as a local discovery service. Foursquare has a significant amount of data and more than 25 million users, but only eight million of those are active at least once a month. Foursquare desperately needs more partners and revenue, and a deal with Apple could give it room to breathe as it tries to entice users.

But while Foursquare integration would be intriguing, I’m hoping Apple is also working hard to improve the quality of its map app. Apple’s iOS 6 map app was widely criticized for the quality of its data (and it was a big reason why Google Maps for iPhone has been so popular). Ultimately, having accurate and bug-free map data is far more important than any whiz-bang social integration.

Photo: Nan Palmero/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Surprising no one, Google Maps for the iPhone is insanely popular — to the tune of more than 10 million downloads in under two days, Google’s senior vice president of commerce Jeff Huber just announced.

In just a few hours after launching last week, Google Maps became the top free app on the iTunes store. The news surely rubs some salt into Apple’s wounds from its troubled map app, which was widely criticized for bugs and inaccurate data (at one point, it mistakenly led people into the middle of the Australian outback).

“Creating a mapping application from the ground up is actually quite challenging from a technical point,” said Daniel Graf, Google’s mobile map lead, in a lengthy interview with VentureBeat last week. “It’s not just rendering some pictures and text. Rendering a map is similar to creating a 3D game, where you have a 3D rendering engine, which we created. To have the performance you see now, where you can zoom and pan at this speed is quite a challenge.”

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Google Maps for the iPhone is here, and it’s glorious. In only a few hours after launching, it’s become the top free iPhone app on the App Store.

It’s not hard to see why: The Google Maps iPhone app is gorgeously designed (just like the Gmail iPhone app, which launched last week), and it finally gives iOS 6 users a full-featured alternative to Apple’s troubled Map app.

To learn more about how Google approached building the long-awaited app, we chatted with Daniel Graf, director of Google Maps for mobile. Graf joined Google last year as director of its Mobile Apps Lab after founding the cloud-based video publishing platform Kyte in 2005. In April (shortly before Apple announced iOS 6 and its own map app), he took charge of the mobile maps team.

VentureBeat: How long have you been working on this?

Daniel Graf: We haven’t announced that. Usually Google doesn’t comment on how long it works on a product … what I can say is that it’s probably longer than what you would expect.

Creating a mapping application from the ground up is actually quite challenging from a technical point. It’s not just rendering some pictures and text. Rendering a map is similar to creating a 3D game, where you have a 3D rendering engine, which we created. To have the performance you see now, where you can zoom and pan at this speed is quite a challenge. And of course, hooking it up to all of the data sources we have on Google came on top of it.

VentureBeat: The design really falls in line with the new Gmail App on iOS and Google Now on iOS and Android. Is this a new, consistent style for Google on mobile?

Graf: I think what you’ve experienced on Google properties on the desktop over the last couple years, we have now kind of a streamlined design — a very delightful design which puts the product on the foreground. If you look at our app, the map is really the U.I. There aren’t many menus, but if you actually play around with it, you’ll see all of the features are actually here. You’re not actually missing anything.

You’re right — on the mobile side, of course, all of the mobile development teams collaborate closely to get this one Google experience onto mobile devices.

VentureBeat: It seems vastly improved over what we’ve been seeing in Google’s apps before. Is this something you’ve pushing since you joined the company last year?

Graf: This is always a team effort — there’s no individual part of this. I’m very happy to be a part of the team.

VentureBeat: Do you have any sense how Google approached mobile app design before you joined the team?

Graf: Mobile apps really only took off a few years ago with the smartphones. In the beginning, before you run, you have to walk, and before you walk, you have to crawl. So there were the crawling efforts, and I think now we’re on the walking side — and hopefully soon we’ll be running. I don’t think this is attached to me, this is just what’s happening in the industry overall. We’re seeing better and better designed products.

As you pointed out, it’s quite nice that Gmail launched last week; you can see a common design theme there. If you actually look at the app store rating, we’re at four-and-a-half stars now. We don’t get that quite often, and we’re pleased about that.

VentureBeat: Are you surprised by the quick uptake on the app?

Graf: [Laughs] You can never expect anything like that. We knew that there was the demand — people loved Google Maps in general. Our statement has always been that we want to be on all major platforms. Looking at the numbers, we are impressed.

VentureBeat: Was the Apple approval process difficult?

Graf: We work with Apple on a daily basis, and on many levels, Google and Apple have a very deep relationship. On the map side, all I can say is that we have a friendly relationship. You see the app out there now,  and everything is working smooth. I think everyone around the table is happy about this today.

VentureBeat: Is it the same team building the iOS and Android versions of the app?

Graf: I’m responsible for all mobile platforms.

VentureBeat: Why are you pushing new designs on iOS first? It seems that, historically, Android has received updates like this first.

Graf: If you look at the Android Play store, users are very happy with what we have there — we have a working solution there. On iOS, we didn’t have one. Obviously, our priority was focused on iOS and iPhone in recent months. Moving forward, our goal is always to have the best experience on every platform.

We’re not saying, “We’re going to have feature parity everywhere,” but we definitely want a seamless experience on all platforms.

VentureBeat: Should we expect an updated version of Google Maps on Android to look like this eventually?

Graf: If you look back, we update on Android very frequently. We’re not planning to push that moving forward.

VentureBeat: What exactly are you trying to accomplish with the Google Maps SDK and the new URL scheme for developers?

Graf: With Google in general, it’s not just about our applications, the way we design it. We want to enable an ecosystem. And that’s what we did here as well. Maps has a long history with APIs on the web, and on iOS our goal was the moment we launched the app, we wanted to launch the ecosystem.

VentureBeat: Do you think Apple would ever let third-party apps like Google Maps replace its built-in apps?

Graf: You’d have to ask Apple about that.We made this app, it’s on the app store, it’s out there now, and that’s all we care about.

VentureBeat: How important was it for you to keep public transportation within the app? That’s one big difference from Apple’s Maps app.

Graf: It’s absolutely essential. I think there’s a few things we really wanted to hit on with this new experience. We had the opportunity here to design something from the ground up, so design was our main focus, to have the best experience out there that nails all your use cases.

In most metropolitan areas a lot of people don’t need a car. Google has been known to have quite a comprehensive solution around the globe. We actually cover over a million transit spots — that’s not 100 percent coverage around the world. But in major metropolitan areas, we think we have very good coverage.

VentureBeat: When will we see an iPad version of the Google Maps app?

Graf: We usually don’t comment on future product releases. It is functional on the iPad — it’s not an optimized iPad experience at this point. But you can imagine that smartphones are the top priority for mapping, and mobile mapping is primarily used on smartphones. I would say stay tuned.

Top photo: Daniel Graf/Google+

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Life must be tough for Apple right now.

Just hours after Google Maps landed on iOS, the app has already climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store. The event is a major salt-in-the-wounds moment for Apple, which is getting beat by a competitor on its own turf.

But is this really any real surprise? Reception to the launch of Apple’s Maps app has been hugely negative, and though Apple has made some real improvements to the software, it’s clear that a lot of iOS users still don’t trust it.

But Google Maps comes with features like Street View and public transit directions, automatically making it an attractive option for those burned by Apple’s Maps.

One early Google Maps downloader sums it up well: “I’m so glad I do not have to deal with that awful Apple Maps. Thank you GOOGLE!”

I’m sure a lot of other iOS users would say the same.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Is the wait for Google Maps on iOS almost over?

Citing anonymous sources,  AllThingsD reports that Google is only hours away from releasing its long-overdue native Maps app for iOS.

Yes, the wait is over — Google has released Google Maps for iPhone.

Many iOS users have eagerly awaited the arrival of Google Maps ever since Apple launched its own, pretty awful Maps app with the release of iOS 6 in September. And while the company has fixed some of the software’s issues, many iOS users have been burned too many times to give it another go.

Google, while vague on the details, has confirmed that Google Maps for iOS is in progress, though the big question has been whether Apple will approve it. But if the report from AllThingsD is correct, it looks like Apple already has.

We’ve reached out to Google for a response to the report, though chances are the app will launch before the company responds.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Whatever problems you’ve had with Apple’s Maps application in iOS 6, it’s probably not nearly as bad as what some Australian motorists have experienced. Several drivers were led to the middle of a national park with scorching temperatures and no water.

A recent warning from Victoria, Australia police notes that people looking for the city of Mildura are actually getting sent into the middle of Murray Sunset National Park (above), which is around 70 kilometers away from the city.

“Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees, making this a potentially life threatening issue,”  Victoria’s Acting Senior Sergeant Sharon Darcy noted in the warning. “Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception.”

The news shows an extreme and dangerous example of how Apple fudged its mapping roll-out — something that reportedly led the company to boot former executive Scott Forstall. In addition to inaccurate directions, Apple Maps’ 3D rendering featured plenty of glitches at launch, including the absence of major landmarks like the Statue of Liberty.

Like many people, I’ve had plenty of issues with Apple Maps. Searching for Chinese restaurants has sent me to locations in China, and a recent search led me to an address several blocks away from my actual destination. But at least I wasn’t stuck in the middle of a desert.

Officer Darcy notes that police have been in touch with Apple about the issues, but for now they’re recommending alternative map applications.

Via MacRumors

Apple’s Maps debacle may be old news by this point, but that isn’t preventing faux-news site The Onion from making fun of it. The parody site’s latest video offers Apple a pretty thoughtful suggestion: Rearrange the planet so that it matches the software’s glitchy output.

“Apple is committed to providing the best user experience possible, which is why we are working to dismantle the Brooklyn Bridge and put London in Canada,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Onion.

“Public transit directions won’t be necessary in the new world as there will be no public transit,” Cook added, referring to Maps’s lack of public transit information for cities like New York.

The fictional Tim Cook’s response is very different from that of the real one. Cook apologized for the software’s bugs in a September letter. “We fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better,” he wrote.

While The Onion pokes fun at Apples’s Map troubles, the situation has been so serious that it led to the sacking of Richard Williamson, the former senior director of iOS platform services. Former iOS VP Scott Forstall also left the company after he reportedly declined to sign Apple’s letter publicly apologizing for its Maps flaws.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple has reportedly fired Richard Williamson, the man in charge of Apple Maps. The version of the mapping app launched in iOS 6 bombed with consumers, resulting in an apology from chief executive Tim Cook.

Williamson, the senior director of iOS platform services, was fired by senior vice president Eddy Cue, according to Bloomberg’s sources. Williamson was one of the executives in charge of the highly anticipated Apple Maps, which replaced competitor Google’s maps app. When it launched with iOS 6 in September, it became very apparent that the app had a lot of bugs — more bugs than were justifiable under a “beta” label.

For example, the app showed failed 3D images of drooping bridges and placed a Chinese restaurant in the middle of a body of water. It also didn’t provide accurate directions, resulting in a parody video of Batman failing to save someone because of it.

Tim Cook apologized in a letter to customers after the backlash, saying, “We fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.”

Apple even suggested other maps apps that customers could use while Apple improves the product.

In late October, Apple iOS executive Scott Forstall “left” the company, which some said was connected to his rumored refusal to sign a public apology regarding Apple Maps.

We have reached out to Apple and will update this post upon hearing back.

Eddy Cue image via Apple

Two major, yet controversial, features from iOS could be making their way to Apple’s OS X desktop operating system.

The virtual assistant Siri and Apple’s Maps code have both appeared in early test builds of OS X 10.9, the next version of Apple’s desktop OS, which we expect to ship next year, sources tell 9to5Mac.

If true, the moves make sense for Apple: Siri is now one of the company’s most iconic features on the iPhone, even though it doesn’t work quite as well as advertised. And while Apple’s Maps application leaves much to be desired, such as ridiculous aerial views that somehow leave out things like the Statue of Liberty and the Hoover Dam, it can’t remain a mobile-only feature for long.

Apple already offers voice dictation, one of Siri’s big features, within OS X Mountain Lion. But desktop Mac users don’t have access to Siri’s voice-powered commands for looking up things on the web, checking your calendar, and the like. And even though Mac users aren’t exactly clamoring for Apple’s Maps, the company still needs to find a way to bring the service to the desktop.

The sources say that Apple is bringing Maps into OS X as a framework, not an app, which would allow developers to easily integrate it into their apps. But that could be the first step towards Apple releasing a full-fledged desktop Maps app (though that possibility is mostly conjecture at this point).

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Will Apple say yes?

According to a report by the Guardian, Google is working on a version of Google Maps for iPhone. Apple’s Maps application replaced Google’s — to widespread displeasure — in iOS 6. That Google would attempt to reclaim its position in iOS was fairly predictable.

What is not predictable is how Apple will respond.

Apple has played hardball with Google in the past. It held up the Google Voice app for perhaps a year as both companies wrangled with how much functionality could be included. The issue from Apple’s perspective is that it doesn’t want apps that duplicate functionality already on the iPhone, such as an app with features similar to Airplay.

Another issue, of course, is competitive advantage, as access to all of iOS’s users is a huge boon to a company that feeds on data, as Google does.

Google’s new Maps app is supposed to be ready for app store submission before the end of this year. Only then — assuming we hear about it — will we know for sure how Apple intends to respond. Another app that Apple deleted from the default set of apps that ship with iOS 6 is YouTube.

The result? YouTube has consistently been at the list of the top free apps available in the Apple store throughout October and remains at the top today. That’s an indicator that Apple users aren’t necessarily as sold on Apple’s strategic direction as Apple itself.

You’d think Apple would want to avoid something similar happening with Maps.

VentureBeat has contacted both Apple and Google for comment. A Google spokesman responded with the following:

We believe Google Maps are the most comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps in the world. Our goal is to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of device, browser, or operating system.

We will update with any comments from Apple.

photo credit: Genista via photopin cc

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Saturday Night Live took a shot at Silicon Valley yesterday when it set up a sketch involving “reporters” from Cnet, Wired, and Gizmodo, all complaining about features on the iPhone 5.

Watch the video here.

The sketch takes place on a tech television, and “traps” the reporters who are complaining about the iPhone 5 into airing their grievances in front of three “Chinese factory workers,” likely meant to be Foxconn workers. The complaints weren’t made up, though. Before the factory workers came out, the reporters complained about real issues the tech community (including VentureBeat) has been blabbering about since launch of the iPhone.

These problems include a purple ring in photos taken on the iPhone, its scratch-prone aluminum back, the failed maps app, and the height and thinness of the phone (though, I don’t actually think many people are complaining about that last one).

Of course, the factory workers shoot back real problems like standing in a line for 21 days to get baby food (as compared with standing in line for the iPhone), and the fact that they sleep in dormitories where they work.

Basically, SNL is trying to put us all in our places, and does a pretty funny job of it. Check out the video and let us know whether you think the tech industry is placing too much emphasis on trivial problems.

Well, perhaps neither.

Often forgotten in the great Map war of 2012 is another challenger — a platform that is far more suited for the ever-evolving needs of developers and the services they’re building, or one day hope to build.

That platform, OpenStreetMap, is known as the “Wikipedia of maps.” It makes location data editable, more detailed, interactive and, importantly, open for everyone. Apple (hey now), Wikipedia (of course), and Foursquare have recently integrated OSM into their services, and it’s a trend that will only continue with Google charging high-volume users of its Maps APIs (Google has walked this back a bit, though, hoping to preclude defections). OpenStreetMap is, as they say, the future.

Of course, this is a very utopian view. Everyone touts open and collaborative data as a democratizing force, but if you’re a developer or startup considering incorporating OpenStreetMap into your offering, the perceptible benefits need to be clearer and much more explicit.

For that reason, here are three simple yet powerful reasons OpenStreetMap boasts over 750,000 users:

1. On-The-Ground Granularity. OpenStreetMap is the only globally crowdsourced map available today, making its potential for unrivalled quality a key differentiator. With hundreds of thousands of contributors, the data dynamically and constantly evolves — just as places do. Locations are rarely fixed or stable. They change and progress over time. No other service or platform can immediately provide developers with the real-time, on-the-ground granularity of OpenStreetMap.

Also important is firsthand influence. Mappers who edit the data have often had personal interactions with a place or locale. They know locations intimately, making their contributions detailed, rich, and hyperlocal. This means more accurate, “fresh” maps for users and an enhanced experience, which is critical for successful services. Plus, when you consider that more and more startups and services are focused on providing hyperlocal functionality and features, having hyperlocal data is a necessity. Only OpenStreetMap’s army of contributors can provide that. Traditional corporate map providers TeleAtlas (TomTom) and Navteq (Nokia) are painfully aware of this.

2. It’s Flexible & Customizable. Google owns Google Maps. Unsurprisingly, this has an impact on what you can and cannot do with Google Maps. Google can constrain the way you visually render and showcase its mapping technology. Needless to say, this is suffocating for those interested in building their own services. This is what makes OpenStreetMap such a significant development for developers interested in offering location-based/aware features. Do with OpenStreetMap what you will both visually and design-wise — there are absolutely no limitations. Every map can be unique and rendered differently. This also speaks to the flexibility of OpenStreetMap more generally.

Beyond design, OpenStreetMap’s map attributes are infinite, making it possible for an endless number of special interest maps. Users can channel the data to build completely new maps that cater to a specific theme or concept, creating “thematic” maps for different uses, such as walking, hiking, bicycling, routes for those with disabilities, and more.

3. Ownership & Affordability. This, of course, cannot be overstated. OpenStreetMap is not Apple’s or Google’s. This means they can’t tell you how to use their APIs. But, importantly, it also means you don’t have to pay for it at all — whether you’re a heavy user or not. From Sonar to Yelp, use of the map will cost you nothing. Money is not a barrier to entry. In the end, your service will create value from the map (and not the other way around). Everyone talks about democratizing data — well, to the dismay of Google and Apple, this is it.

Some in the mapping space say otherwise, though. TomTom, keeping its own commercial interests in mind, recently criticized OpenStreetMap, claiming that the open-sourced nature of the platform makes it “wide open” to vandalism that can corrupt the data. However, the community that supports OpenStreetMap quickly called TomTom out on the falsities of its claims (talk about real-time collaboration).

OpenStreetMap isn’t perfect, of course. No map is. But, when you consider its strengths and potential, Apple and Google need to be less worried about each other and more worried about the owners of OpenStreetMap — you and me.

Marcus Thielking is co-founder of Skobbler, a leading provider of mobile map-based solutions that uses OpenStreetMap. Prior to founding Skobbler in 2008, he worked for navigation systems specialist Navigon AG (recently acquired by Garmin), where he ultimately became head of corporate development. 

I guess those 3 percent are Silicon Valley tech blog writers.

ChangeWave Research just surveyed 4,300 consumers, and it turns out that they don’t care about Apple Maps versus Google Maps. In fact, one in three people surveyed said they’re likely to buy the iPhone 5, with 20 percent saying “very likely” and 13 percent saying “somewhat likely.”

“Despite the media attention surrounding both the Apple Maps issue and the Apple Lightning port issue, neither has had an impact on the massive numbers of buyers queuing up to buy the iPhone 5,” Paul Carton, a ChangeWave VP, said in a statement, adding that “both issues hardly rank as bumps in the road.”

Apple replacing Google maps with its own not-quite-as-solid version has dominated a lot of the media about the iPhone 5 launch, of course, with concerns about its lack of data and its sometimes-hilarious 3D flyover fails, causing Apple CEO Tim Cook to publicly apologize. But Consumer Reports gave Apple Maps a fairly positive review, and the app is, apparently, good enough to give Taiwan’s military a few hot flashes.

ChangeWave compared the current Maps issue with the iPhone4′s “Antennae-gate,” and Maps is not even in the same league. While 36 percent of consumers experienced an issue with iPhone 4 reception, only 10 percent have experience any sort of problem with the iOS 6′s new maps.

Additionally, when the research company asked consumers what was stopping them from buying an iPhone 5, Maps blocked precisely 0 percent of purchases. The biggest reason? People were satisfied with their current phone and saw no need.

photo credit: the past tends to disappear via photopin cc

Take a look at this map:

Kuleto’s is facing the wrong street. iOS Maps shows it on O’Farrell Street. It’s address and entrance are actually on Powell Street, around the corner. (Google Maps has it correct.)

Such errors are common on maps. They exist for a number of reasons:

• At its very best, GPS is accurate to about 7-9 feet. But in urban canyons, accuracy can drop off because satellites are obstructed by tall buildings.
• Some businesses use vanity addresses. In New York City, it’s fashionable to have an address on Park Avenue, but the actual building entrance may be on 48th Street.
• Map makers don’t record the actual entrance to every business on a street. Generally, in the U.S., they record the block numbers and which side is even and which side is odd. The intermediate addresses are approximated.

As a result, errors on a block are common.

There’s a simple fix: Let users pick up the business and move it to the right place and automatically publish the results. Apple does allow users to report errors. I moved Kuleto’s to its correct location, but Apple hasn’t processed the update yet.

User-generated content is fraught with problems and opportunities for mischief. If you let people delete businesses, some will delete their competitors or businesses they don’t like. If you let people add businesses, they will spam your results with dummy businesses. The trick is to balance the mischief with the potential for more accurate data. This is something that Google has a lot of experience at. It’s been fine-tuning how it handles user-generated content in Maps for years. In its core search business, it’s been dealing with spam for more than a decade.

Letting people move existing businesses within the margin of error of current mapping methods strikes me as an acceptable balance.

Otherwise, the only quick way for Apple to verify the change is correct is to use Google’s Street View to get visual confirmation. It might face some legal issues with that. (Disclosure: I have Apple stock.)

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Slowly but surely, Apple is improving the iOS 6 Maps experience.

iPhone owners have begun noticing significant changes in Apple’s Maps app, which has added more 3D data. Two big examples are the newly 3D-ified Stature of Liberty and an improved Brooklyn Bridge, both of which were previously flat images. Similar improvements are in the map data for much Brooklyn, which is also available in 3D.

The improvements come a week after Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the initially lackluster Maps experience. “We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better,” Cook said.

Fortunately for iOS users, the improvements to Maps are coming sooner rather than later.

Apple’s latest fixes may be small in scale, but they’ll still go a long way toward proving to iPhone owners that Apple is serious about improving its Maps data.

But Apple still has a lot of work to do. Adding more 3D data may be a big deal, but the more irksome problems have been the ones related to incorrect addresses and, for city dwellers, the lack of public transit directions.

Photo: MacRumors/pacmania1982

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Google has given Apple Maps haters yet another reason to avoid that app by adding its well-liked Street View feature to its web app on iOS, the company announced today.

The biggest misstep Apple made with iOS 6 was replacing Google Maps with a half-cooked Apple Maps app. Until Google adds its own iOS app to the App Store, thankfully, there are alternatives like Bing Maps or the Google Maps web app you can access through the browser.

Now Google Maps on the web has been improved with Street View, which lets you see buildings in close detail as if you were walking by them. Street View on the web is a little sluggish, but for anyone seeking a reliable rendering of a destination, it could still come in handy.

Google writes:

Starting today, use Street View on your mobile browser to check out a new shop across town or get a feel for the ambiance at a restaurant before you arrive. To use Street View on your mobile browser simply go to maps.google.com and search for a location. Then click the “pegman” icon at the bottom right of your screen to access Street View. And to view still more helpful imagery, such as a photos shared by users or interior panoramas, visit the business’ Google+ Local page.

Also, transit, driving, biking and walking directions continue to be available on your mobile browser to help you help guide you to your destination.

For quick access to Google Maps on iOS devices, you can save a bookmark to your home screen. Simply click “Save to Home Screen” on the bottom of the page when you’re in Google Maps, or follow the instructions here.

Photo credit: Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

By now you’ve either heard about how inadequate the native iOS 6 Maps app is compared to the old Google Maps app or experienced it yourself. Well, some good news is in the pipeline for those still suffering.

Google plans to add the Street View feature, which shows what an actual location looks like from the ground level,  to its iOS Maps web app. This is according to AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg, who mentioned the details within a review of the native Google Maps app on Android.

The old Google Maps app didn’t have the Street View feature, which means iOS device owners running the latest operating system may have one more reason to run back into the arms of Google. This isn’t even the first upgrade Google has made to remind people how awesome the service is by comparison. Last week, the search giant added high-res 45-degree imagery in 51 cities to Google Maps.

The new feature should be available on the web app Thursday, according to Mossberg. He added that the company still intends to create a native version of Google Maps for both the iPhone and iPad at some point in the future, which lines up with comments made last week by Google Chairman Erik Schmidt.

Apple Maps received almost immediately ridicule from iPhone owners when it debuted back in September, spawning its own Tumblr blog with examples of errors. It also resulted in a plethora of articles explaining why the app wasn’t on par with other Map services, including a good one by VentureBeat editor-in-chief Matt Marshall. The bad press caused Apple CEO Tim Cook to issue a public apology about the Maps app’s poor quality and even remove any mention that it was the best, ever.

That said, a Google Maps native iOS app would be ideal. But for now, the addition of Street View should keep everyone happy.

But it’s still less than half Apple’s capitalization at $627 billion.

Google’s stock dipped a bit in later trading today, and as of 9:39 a.m. Pacific time, the search and advertising giant is worth just a little less than Microsoft. But the overall trend is very clear: Google is up over 18 percent in the past six months, while Microsoft is down just over 8 percent.

Source: Google Finance

Google vs Microsoft.

Google continues to win in web search, with an almost 70 percent search market share, with Microsoft’s Bing search engine making only modest moves to increase its share. Google’s mobile story is strong as well, with 68 percent of smartphone buyers in the U.S. choosing phones running its Android operating system.

Perhaps surprisingly, social is also doing well for Google, with increased traffic to Google+, and — perhaps more importantly — the world’s biggest social network continuing to put its stock-market palm directly on its face.

One fly in the ointment is the loss of mapping and location data from iOS, as Apple has replaced Google Maps with its own program. But Apple’s woes in that area more than compensate (even if Apple’s Maps isn’t as bad as the press has made them out to be.)

The real story here is Google versus Apple, and whether tiny profits hundreds of times per day per user will eventually prove to be more lucrative than large profits several times per year per user. Google, of course, profits by organizing information at scale, making it accessible, and matching it with advertising. Apple profits by creating lust-worthy customer experiences with tightly woven hardware, software, and services.

Both want to own the user: Google with services that are too valuable to lose, and Apple with experiences that are too excellent to switch.

The best part of this story?

We’ve all got front-row seats to the clash of the titans.

photo credit: Thomas Hawk via photopin cc

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Everyone in the tech echo chamber knows that Apple Maps is the worst mapping service in the history of mapping services. Apparently, someone forgot to give Consumer Reports the memo.

The convention wisdom is that Apple Maps lacks data and shows crazy, fantastical images of important landmarks. Apple CEO Tim Cook has released an almost-unprecedented apology for Maps, and many iPhone owners are abandoning the app, so much so that Apple is vigorously promoting other company’s mapping solutions in the app store and softening the conventional best-ever marketing jargon about the new Maps on its website.

But is it really that bad? Well, honestly, no.

It’s not great — that’s definitely true. The fly-over footage has serious issues. Big chunks of Ontario, one of Canada’s larger provinces, seem to be just missing (update: Google doesn’t do much better). But Consumer Reports, which is known for its detailed and objective reports, provides a little outside-the-echo-chamber sanity.

Consumer Reports’ bottom line?

Both the free Apple and Google navigation apps provide clear routing directions. Apple feels like a less-mature product. But as seen with the initial competing applications for the iPhone, we would expect updates to this new app over time–and Apple has promised as much. When getting down to the nitty gritty, Google provides a better overall package, but we feel that both provide a good solution for standard software. We expect the competition between the companies will benefit customers with ongoing improvements.

Wow. That’s a little different than what we’ve been hearing. And it provides a useful counterpoint to the pile-on-the-bandwagon type behavior the blogosphere, which can be a little high school from time to time, has been engaging in.

The reality is, every mapping solution has its challenges — even the admittedly awesome Google Maps, which has sent people with medical problems on a wild goose chase while trying to find a medical center.

Apple’s problem is that is replaced best-in-class with pretty-good. That is a very risky proposition, as marketing guru Seth Godin indicates, because people are much more sensitive to what they’re losing than to what they’re gaining.

Consumer Reports liked App Maps’ interface, signage, and points of interest info. But Google has better reporting on traffic conditions and transit information such as train stations. And, of course, it’s a more mature solution.

There’s no doubt that Google Maps are better than Apple Maps. But it was intriguing to read Consumer Reports’ thoughts on the media frenzy:

But having more thoroughly tested Apple Maps alongside a Samsung Galaxy S3 running Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with Google Maps, we have a more favorable opinion–certainly more favorable than comments and articles that we’ve been reading online.

Google Maps gets the nod, as it should. But Apple’s Maps isn’t a complete train wreck.

Maybe it’s just that we’ve come to expect better from Apple.

photo credit: Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the BPL via photopin cc

Hat tip: ModMyI.com

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Today in Apple’s iOS 6 Maps soap opera, the company has apparently toned down the hyperbole on its website describing the new maps application, following a public apology from chief executive Tim Cook yesterday.

Apple’s website previously described Maps with the following language:

Designed by Apple from the ground up, Maps gives you turn-by-turn spoken directions, interactive 3D views, and the stunning Flyover feature. All of which may just make this app the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever.

But sharp-eyed tech writer Amit Agarwal noticed this morning that Apple changed the second sentence of that copy to read: “All in a beautiful vector-based interface that scales and zooms with ease.”

It’s not a major change, but together with Tim Cook’s recommendation to use competitor’s map apps yesterday, it seems like a surprisingly humbling maneuver for Apple. The company can’t truthfully call its Map app the “most powerful mapping service ever” with all of the errors users are seeing, especially when better alternatives are just a few clicks away.

Apple yesterday also started highlighting alternative map applications on the App Store, including Bing, Waze, and Mapquest. Cook also recommended web apps like Google’s web-based version of Google Maps. An official Google Maps app for iOS is reportedly in the works and should be released by the end of the year.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard that the maps application in iOS  is awful. It is so bad, Apple actually apologized. What we haven’t seen until now is just how badly iOS 6 is hurting usage of Apple’s maps.

A company called Snappli, which just launched a few weeks ago (see coverage here and here) is a free mobile app that helps people stay within their mobile data limits by compressing and optimizing mobile data as well as video. Today they pulled some pretty interesting data around Google/Apple Maps, based on data from Snappli users in the UK and US. 64 percent of Snappli users in the U.S. and UK have migrated to iOS 6 in the past few weeks. Here’s Snappli’s summary of what those users did after upgrading:

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Shocked by Apple CEO Tim Cook’s admission that the Apple Maps application falls short of expectations? Don’t be.

Apple may not be a company accustomed to making public apologies for lacking products or services, but it does own up to its missteps on occasion, especially when its prized creation, the iPhone, is at the center of controversy.

The Cupertino company has, by our estimates, made at least five iPhone-related apologies, including the Maps confession, and one admission of guilt by product giveaway.

It all started with a public letter from Steve Jobs, addressed to iPhone customers, in September 2007, a few months after the first iPhone went on sale. The technology icon felt compelled to apologize for royally upsetting the first wave of iPhone buyers who waited in long lines and paid $599 for a device that Apple and AT&T soon reduced to $399.

In 2010, Apple apologized multiple times for issues related to the iPhone 4. First, the company admitted guilt for bungling the pre-order process for the smartphone. Then, Steve Jobs said he was sorry for not being able to meet consumer demand for the device. If you recall, the iPhone 4 “sold out” in a matter of three days.

Later, the company finally addressed a seemingly disastrous “antennagate” scale. Apple (not Jobs) posted a letter to iPhone 4 users, apologized “for any anxiety we may have caused,” and attempted to explain why customers were losing bars. That apology proved insufficient, and Apple was forced to address the matter once again by convening an uncharacteristic press conference where Jobs announced that Apple would be providing iPhone 4 owners with free bumpers.

If history and Apple’s stock price tell us anything, it’s that Apple can recover from a smartphone scandal like no other.

Here’s a visual look at each of Apple’s iPhone-related apologetic gestures.

Photo credit: Heather Kelly/VentureBeat

Just as Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the dismal state of Apple Maps today, Google has updated its Maps application with even more high-res and satellite imagery.

Apple has taken much flak for getting rid of Google Maps on its latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, and replacing it with its undercooked Apple Maps app. Cook admitted that Apple “fell short” on providing the best experience and even suggested using alternatives like Bing’s pretty decent iOS app.

Google isn’t letting this rare moment of Apple apologizing go to waste and wants to make sure iOS 6 users miss Google even more. It has added 45-degree views in 37 U.S. and 14 international cities, and added new high-res aerial and satellite images in 17 cities and 112 countries/regions. To get an idea of what 45-degree images look like in Maps, check out the Leaning Tower of Pisa as an example.

We expect Google will release a native Maps app that will be downloadable through the App Store before the end of the year. If you absolutely can’t live without Google Maps on iOS 6, you can create an icon on your home screen to Google’s web-based mobile application.

Here’s a full list of cities that have been updated with new imagery:

Cities with new high-resolution 45° imagery:
United States: Ames, IA; Anderson, IN; Billings, MT; Bloomington, IL; Carmel Valley, CA; Cedar Rapids, IA; Coeur d’Alene, ID; Corvallis, OR; Danville, IL; Dayton, OH; Detroit, MI; Dubuque, IA; Elizabethtown, KY; Enid, OK; Florence, SC; Grand Forks, ND; Great Falls, MT; Gulfport, MS; Hartford, CT; Kankakee, IL; Kenosha, WI; Lafayette, IN; Lancaster, CA; Lansing, MI; Lewiston, ID; Los Banos, CA; Madison, WI; Medford, OR; Michigan City, IN; Olympia, WA; Pocatello, ID; Sheboygan, WI; Sioux City, IA; Sioux Falls, SD; South Bend, IN; Terre Haute, IN; Utica, NY.

International: Angers, France; Clermont-Ferrand, France; Coimbra, Portugal; Dijon, France; Grenoble, France; Livorno, Italy; Lyon, France; Newcastle, United Kingdom; Oberhausen, Germany; Palermo, Italy; Pisa, Italy; Toulouse, France; Troyes, France; Winnipeg, Canada.

Areas with new high-resolution aerial updates:
Florence OR, Kellogg ID, Casper WY, North Platte NE, Concordia KS, Alva OK, Austin TX, Nevada MO, Chilicothe MO, Toulouse FR, Clermont-Ferrand FR, Angers FR, Nantes FR, Troyes FR, Lille FR, Thun CH, Lucca IT

Areas with new high-resolution satellite updates:
Canada, United States, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Antarctica, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Zambia, Angola, Malawi, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Turkey, Iran, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Finland, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzebekistan, Turkmenistan, China, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple chief executive Tim Cook issued a public apology this morning for the company’s buggy maps application in iOS 6.

Cook admitted that Apple “fell short” on providing the best possible experience with its Maps application. He wasn’t afraid to suggest alternatives for customers to use while Apple gets its act together. Cook pointed to Bing, Mapquest, and Waze’s iOS apps, as well as Google and Nokia’s web apps. Ironically, by recommending Bing, he was in agreement with Microsoft.

Update: Apple is now featuring third-party map applications in the App Store. It’s a surprisingly pro-consumer move from Apple (though the company will still be getting its normal 30 percent cut from any sales).

Cook reiterated Apple’s iOS 6 stats, saying that 100 million people have upgraded to the new OS and are now using Apple’s new Maps application. He also noted that users have searched for more than 500 million locations.

Controversy over Apple’s Maps application began when iOS 6 was released a few weeks ago. Apple had been touting its app’s turn-by-turn directions and 3D building views, but once customers got their hands on iOS 6, it quickly became apparent that the new maps app had a number of issues. The app often sent people to wrong addresses, and the highly-touted 3D view had plenty of hilariously bad errors (for example, the Statue of Liberty doesn’t exist in the app). Map experts pointed out that Apple likely underestimated just how difficult mapping would be, and said that the app’s problems could last for some time.

The original Map application that shipped with the first iPhone used Google Maps data. Now, iOS 6 users are waiting for Google to release their own Google Maps application, which is expected before the end of the year.

As annoying as Apple’s Maps application is, we still think the iPhone 5 is the best new smartphone on the market.

Check out Cook’s full letter below.

To our customers,

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO

How does the saying go? The best offense is a good defense.

Fresh off rejection, Foursquare is making a full court press on iOS with the release of an iPhone 5 and iOS 6-ready version of its check-in application that touts — go figure — a more personalized maps experience for better exploring cities everywhere.

In version 5.3, released today for iPhone, the three-year-old startup has made design and feature improvements to the Explore tab to help users more easily find places they might like.

The Explore tab, which already made venue recommendations, is meant to be simpler to navigate, faster, and more efficient. Particularly, the tab now includes new search categories for finding places that a member has saved to a list, locales a person has previously or never visited, or venues that friends have frequented.

The update, while not major by any means, does enhance an important piece of the Foursquare experience that differentiates the offering from the likes of competitors like Yelp. Unfortunately for Foursquare, Yelp was chosen as the primary places engine for the Apple Maps experience. While likely not an intentional snub, Apple’s decision to rely on Yelp to serve users with business information, tips, photos, and check-ins is a snub all the same, and one that gives the newly public company exposure to millions of new people.

But Apple is the midst of a Maps nightmare, so the door is open for Foursquare to find favor with Maps haters looking for better ways to find nearby places.

Notice the careful wording included in the company’s blog post, emphasis ours.

Like any good map, if you type a specific place into Explore, we know where it is and can find it for you. But because we also know what you and your friends like, what’s popular in the neighborhood, and have data from tens of millions of tips and over 2.5 billion check-ins, we can also give you tailored suggestions instead of one size-fits-all results.

A previous blog post, published on iPhone 5 launch day, also highlighted the superiority of Foursquare’s maps experience. “With foursquare, you don’t get any map — you get one that’s made just for you,” the post said.

So you get the point. Well played, Foursquare.