Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 11th May 2012 20:42 UTC
"Between 2009 and 2011, Apple acquired three mapping companies in quick succession: Placebase, in 2009; 3-D mapping outfit Poly9 in 2010; and in 2011, C3 Technologies, a second 3-D mapping company. Three mapping-company acquisitions in as many years. But for good reason: Apple has been hard at work developing its own in-house mapping solution for iOS, and now it's finally ready to debut it." I'm probably crazy, but I've never used the map applications on my mobile phones, so it's difficult for me to get excited about this.
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RE: Local caching of frequently used locations
by Neolander on Sat 12th May 2012 07:29
in reply to "Local caching of frequently used locations"
Member since:2010-03-08
RE[2]: Local caching of frequently used locations
by _txf_ on Sat 12th May 2012 08:53
in reply to "RE: Local caching of frequently used locations"
Member since:2008-03-17
Member since:
2009-02-19
I use the iOS maps application a lot in several different scenarios:
- On several occasions I've used my iPhone to help a stranger find a street or give them directions, and every time I've awkwardly asked them to wait... and wait... while the map loads. I've got a reasonable 3G connection, but local caching of the map data would help and seems like it would be easy to implement.
- It's also great when taking a bus in an unknown city - you can keep the maps application open, and watch the little dot move down the road past the bus stops. You know precisely when to ring the bell to get off.
- Related to the above, I like being able to just enter a destination and have Google maps tell me what busses to take to get somewhere - so much better than trying to understand bus timetables in a unfamiliar city.
- Walking distance estimates are really useful, and the comparison of times for different travel methods is handy.
But no matter how good the new Apple maps app is, I don't want to use anything that might blow my head off. I'm quite attached to my head, in more ways than one.
(seriously, it's like those ads for "killer abs" - I always think "that sounds dangerous - I don't think I want those!")
Edited 2012-05-11 23:42 UTC