Apple unveils revamped map app to challenge Google
[SAN FRANCISCO] Apple on Thursday said it has finished rolling out an overhauled map app in the US in another attempt to challenge Google's popular smartphone navigation software.
Apple spent years rebuilding the application, its cars traveling millions of kilometres to map roads, after a version launched in 2012 was so problematic it prompted a rare public apology from chief executive Tim Cook.
Mapping programs on mobile devices is seen as a way to stay in tune with smartphone lifestyles and pursue opportunities to make money connecting people with nearby offerings such as restaurants, theaters, clothing shops and other businesses.
Apple said the redesigned "Maps" program is fast, accurate, and comprehensive, even weaving in transit options in some locations.
Maps is to begin rolling out in Europe in coming months.
"We set out to create the best and most private maps app on the planet that is reflective of how people explore the world today," Apple senior vice-president of internet software and services Eddy Cue said in a release.
"It is an effort we are deeply invested in and required that we rebuild the map from the ground up to reimagine how Maps enhances people's lives - from navigating to work or school or planning an important vacation - all with privacy at its core." Apple Maps had some features similar to those in Google Maps, such as pictures of locations taken at street level and artificial intelligence to check the status of flight reservations noted in email boxes or on calendars.
As with other products, Apple stressed work done to protect user privacy, such as obscuring search terms, routing, and other data, according to the company.
Apple spent years rebuilding the application, its cars traveling millions of miles to map roads, after a version launched in 2012 was so problematic it prompted a rare public apology from chief executive Tim Cook.
Mapping programs on mobile devices is seen as a way to stay in tune with smartphone lifestyles and pursue opportunities to make money connecting people with nearby offerings such as restaurants, theaters, clothing shops and other businesses.
Apple said the redesigned "Maps" program is fast, accurate, and comprehensive, even weaving in transit options in some locations. Maps is to begin rolling out in Europe in coming months.
"We set out to create the best and most private maps app on the planet that is reflective of how people explore the world today," Apple senior vice president of internet software and services Eddy Cue said in a release.
"It is an effort we are deeply invested in and required that we rebuild the map from the ground up to reimagine how Maps enhances people’s lives from navigating to work or school or planning an important vacation all with privacy at its core."
Apple Maps had some features similar to those in Google Maps, such as pictures of locations taken at street level and artificial intelligence to check the status of flight reservations noted in email boxes or on calendars.
As with other products, Apple stressed work done to protect user privacy, such as obscuring search terms, routing, and other data, according to the company.
Apple issued a wider-than-usual sales forecast to reflect what chief executive Tim Cook called "uncertainty" caused by the Wuhan coronavirus, after its shipment to China fell 21 percent year-on-year last year. The deadly coronavirus has cut retail traffic, shut stores and prompted the company to limit employee travel in China, one of its most important markets.
The company is also taking steps to make up for production shortages, particularly in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus originated and home to some of the company's suppliers, Cook said on a conference call. Sales in the current period will be US$63b (HK$491.4 billion) to US$67 billion.
While higher than analysts predicted, it's also a wider range than the company tends to forecast.
After an extended Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, Cook said factories are reopening on Feburary 10 rather than at the end of January. Apple has tried to account for this "delayed start up" through its wider sales forecast, Cook said.
On Wednesday, main iPhone assembler Foxconn Technology confirmed all of its facilities will resume full-scale production Chinese smartphone market declined 15 percent to 85.3 million units in the fourth quarter last year.