RSS
Home
Apple ditches Google Latitude, gets Placebase maps
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Will we be saying goodbye to
Google Maps on the iPhone?
In July, Google Latitude landed on the iPhone... as a web app. Why wasn't it offered in the app store? TechCrunch reported that Google originally developed an iPhone app around Google Latitude, but Apple asked that it be made into a web app, citing that it might cause confusion considering that Google Maps comes with the iPhone.
Oddly enough, this same reasoning hasn't stopped other map products from being brought to the iPhone app store. After all, we do have turn-by-turn navigation products like TomTom and G-Map available from the app store. But somehow us iPhone users aren't smart enough to tell the difference between Google Maps and Google Latitude.
Or maybe, Apple just had something else up their sleeve. Such as purchasing a mapping company in order to offer their own map software for use on the iPhone. In July, as they were letting Google know that they'd rather Latitude be a web app, Apple was also secretly snatching up a Google Maps competitor, Placebase. What sets Placebase apart is that its mapping software is highly customizable with a robust API, which is why it has been able to survive -- and even thrive -- while in competition with Google Maps.
So what is Apple's next move?
It is easy to assume that they will phase out Google Maps in favor of Placebase maps. But what will be interesting will be how the iPhone community (and the FCC) responds to the growing rift between Apple and Google.
Would you pay for the news? CNN bets you will with its new iPhone app
AT&T's anger at Google Voice understandable, but misplaced
Should you buy a refurb iPhone 3G?
More iPhone news
iPhone help:
How to send free text messages
How to save iPhone battery life
How to remove iTunes duplicates
Related Articles:
Comments
