Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 20th Sep 2012 19:24 UTC
"The major new feature of the company's new iOS 6 mobile operating system is a new mapping module developed by Apple itself - a replacement for the Google-supplied maps that have been standard on the iPhone since it debuted in 2007. It is a change borne not of user demand, but of corporate politics: Google's Android platform is the biggest competitive threat to the iPhone, so Apple is cutting ties with Google. iPhone owners might have loved Google Maps, but Apple has no love for Google. Unfortunately, Apple's new maps are simply not as good as Google's." That's putting it mildly - my own town barely even exists on Apple's maps. It's basically a trainwreck, and according to The Verge, Apple has been working on this for the past five years. This is what happens when a company cares more about stupid grudges than its customers. Considering how much effort it has taken Google to get where it is now with maps, don't expect Apple's maps to even get near Google Maps any times soon. This isn't going to take months - this is going to take several years, if at all.
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RE[4]: Comment by Stephen!
by JAlexoid on Mon 24th Sep 2012 08:53
in reply to "RE[3]: Comment by Stephen!"
Member since:2009-05-19
Android Handset makers just don't offer new Android versions instead, holding back all new features and performance optimizations so you'll buy the next model
You get what you pay for, but even the low cost devices have had updates.
As for top models, they've received at least one major update. (Galaxy S went though 2 major updates, BTW)
All in all, I'm actually pretty optimistic about this-one, especially since Google maps finally gets a competitor now. And I love healthy competition (not fanboy crap).
At the moment is a non-competitor and it will not be an actual competitor(as with most things Apple, it's very restricted to their platform). Google Maps is the app on Android and will be one of the most popular apps on iOS.
Edited 2012-09-24 08:57 UTC
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!More Features »
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2010-05-06
Android Handset makers just don't offer new Android versions instead, holding back all new features and performance optimizations so you'll buy the next model
This is one of the things (that and horrible battery management) that's keeping me far away from Android, Software updates. No I'm not gonna fiddle around with custom ROM's, I want a smartphone I can manage my life with, not a smartphone I have to manage, which is the feeling I always get with Android. My iPhone 4 got an upgrade to iOS6. And contrary to their iOS4/iPhone 3G fuckup, this is actually a huge improvement in both speed and usability. If you ignore the Maps app, which is indeed worse, I actually got more, not less features. Should I be angry I didn't get them all? I don't feel that way, most of all, I'm happy I still get software updates the day the update is released, even after having this phone for 2 years. Try finding a 2-year old Android phone that's still treated as a first-class citizen and gets an update to the latest and greatest that quickly. Hell, even brand-new-ones don't get this. So if you want to argue on this-one, sorry - you lose.
Also everyone here seems to assume it was only the decision of Apple? I know that Google didn't allow some things in the maps app Apple wanted badly (certainly in the first versions) - like more offline caching. This is the first iPhone/iPhone 3G era where Apple had it's disagreements/issues with carriers for overloading/stressing their data networks. Also not doing turn by turn was also a problem with Google's map policy/licensing, which explicitly stated that you weren't allowed to use it for this purpose as a 3rd party, Apple was no exception. I imagine some people at Apple weren't too happy when Google announced this being included in Android.
But the iOS 6 maps app indeed is problematic. It's biggest problem is lack of data. Thing is, this is a point Apple cant reverse on. They have no choice but improve this, and the advantage they have is that their problems lie with data entirely on their servers. They don't have to push software updates. Yes it will take a good while before it'll be as usable as Google maps, but it'll have to get there.
All in all, I'm actually pretty optimistic about this-one, especially since Google maps finally gets a competitor now. And I love healthy competition (not fanboy crap).