It’s pretty easy to say that the two Goliaths of the tech and gadget world – Apple and Google – don’t really like each other that much anymore. The animosity became pretty obvious when Apple dropped Google Maps from iOS back in June so they could go their own route with it. Then Google began giving away their Android OS to mobile developers, which saturated competition against the seldom updated iPhone.
As this week has progressed, Google has shown that they are not going to stop there. Apple may have dropped Google Maps from their system, but Google is coming back in a strong way. How strong? Imagine having access to public transport information in over 500 cities worldwide?
Wait, it doesn’t stop there. The new version of Google Maps will also be giving information on departure times for over one million stops all around the world, which should make city living and visiting a whole lot easier – as long as you have an Android OS product.
This is where Google is striking against Apple, since they are making the new Google Maps updates only available on Android and not Apple. This however is just an initial introduction to the update, since as Slash Gear reports in an article, Google will eventually make the feature available on Apple to enhance the awareness. Apple will still be battling this out with their supposed own mapping system that is expected to end up on iOS6.
This is a large-scale project that Google has been successful in making available already in the Google Play store to Android for now. On top of the extremely intricate public transit information, the new Google Maps will also allow users to emphasize which medium of transportation they want to use to get to a location.
You might have noticed in the past that the older version laid out all types in one viewing, which could be very stressing on the eyes and general cognition. This feature is however more of a tweak from the previous versions, since many were less-than-pleased with having to look at multi-paths all at one time.
To make maps even more convenient, Google has universalized the offline Maps feature to everyone using Maps at all. This allows you – if you are in a area with no wi-fi/3G – to get access to saved maps, and even get routes that you need. Such a fresh feature will be a big savior and advantage in those times of panic, which we all have been through at one time or another.
In general though, it’s clear that Google aimed to make their loyal users happy rather than just put Apple under pressure. This whole project was not just a spite attack, especially with the Apple availability in the future. How Apple will react with their own program is undetermined, but they are well aware of what they are up against now.
