Google (NASDAQ:
GOOG
) has brought its famous mapping application back to Apple's
(NASDAQ:
AAPL
) iDevices with a new iteration that is designed specifically for
iOS 6. This is big news for Google, but will it be enough to
erase the bad memories incurred by Apple's lackluster Maps app?
For some users, those memories may never fade away. While Apple
has been slowly repairing the faulty directions provided by its
mapping application, the company had to act quickly after
learning that Australian motorists were being stranded in a
dangerous environment
. Drivers in search of Mildura, Victoria were mistakenly directed
to the middle of Murray Sunset National Park. The park -- which
has no water supply and can reach temperatures above 100 degrees
Fahrenheit -- is several dozen miles away from Mildura.
Thus far, that seems to be the biggest problem caused by
Apple's Maps app. Throughout the rest of the world, consumers are
typically amused or baffled by the application's performance.
"Compared with Google Maps, Apple's map app sucks," Fortune's
Philip Elmer-Dewitt wrote in an
editorial
earlier this year. His comments echoed the words of countless
tech bloggers and reporters.
One clever individual decided to humorously chronicle the
endless list of Maps blunders (which continue to this day) at
theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com
.
Days after these and other complaints began to circulate
worldwide, Apple CEO Tim Cook
publicly apologized
for the mess his company created. He also reportedly
fired a top executive
, Scott Forstall, because he would not apologize for the ailing
application.
Apple is
rumored
to be interested in acquiring TomTom (OTC:
TMOAF
) -- the company that provides its GPS data to iOS 6 -- to
provide a more permanent solution for the Maps app. However, it
is not in Apple's character to spend billions acquiring one firm.
The investment would be very expensive -- TomTom's market cap is
greater than $2.3 billion.
Now that Google has brought its famous mapping application to
iOS 6, Apple may not need to bother. In the few hours after is
release, Google Maps became the most popular free app available
on the App Store. Investors
responded
by pushing the stock above $700.
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@LouisBedigianBZ
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