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Google Outs 3D Maps For iOS Ahead of Apple 197

hypnosec writes "Apple announced during WWDC 2012 that it is going to ditch Google maps and bring out its own under iOS 6. So, Google started working and in fact raced ahead of Apple in providing 3D maps for iOS. Through a blog post, Google announced that it has now made 3D imagery available on its Google Earth for iOS app. Users of iPhone 4S, iPad 2 or new iPad, while using Google Earth for iOS app, will feel that they are virtually flying over cities.The feature, as of now, works only for 12 regions. Cities for which the 3D imagery is provided are from US with an expectation of a city in Rome. The U.S. cities include: Boulder, Colo., Boston, Charlotte, N.C., Lawrence, Kan., Long Beach, Calif., Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., San Diego, Santa Cruz, Calif., Tampa, Fla., Tucson, Ariz., and San Francisco, plus its East Bay and Peninsula neighbors, notes the blog post."
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Google Outs 3D Maps For iOS Ahead of Apple

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26, 2012 @09:02PM (#40786353)

    How many cities does Rome have???

  • ...and San Francisco, plus its East Bay and Peninsula neighbors...

    Not to be nitpicky, but I happen to live in Berkeley (clearly east bay neighbor) and after trying the app on my iPhone I can tell you there's no 3D here.

  • Fanboy Article? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Belial6 ( 794905 ) on Thursday July 26, 2012 @09:13PM (#40786415)
    This article reeks of fanboyism. Why would we think that Google didn't start working on 3D maps until Apple announced it? Why isn't this pointing out that Apple is crapping on their customers by trying to sell them a new phone just to run software that should run just fine on the iPhone 1? And why would they think that Google only now found out about Apple's mapping plans? Apple said they were working on maps when we found out that Apple tracks users. They said that the reason they would continue to track users was to collect data for creating mapping software.
    • Wouldn't the current state of Google's 3D work be about right for someone who started working out it about the same time Apple acquired C3?

      Frankly I don't know why there is this level of fuss about 3D maps. The 3D maps are cool, but they are a nice add-on but traditional maps serve people far better day to day... for Apple they are more vital as they make for a somewhat viable replacement for Street View. But Google already has street view (and now that Street View backpack to go where many have gone befo

      • by Belial6 ( 794905 )
        It's hard to say, but making the claim that Google rushed their product to market as a direct response to Apples recent announcement is simply making things up and declaring Apple the 'innovator' because the poster had not facts to the contrary.

        I agree that 3D maps are over hyped.
    • by TummyX ( 84871 )

      iOS6 runs (albiet with some missing features) on 3GS which is a 3 year old phone. That's a better upgrade path than what most other mobile phone manufacturers offer.

      • by Belial6 ( 794905 )
        Mapping is not iOS6. Although I will admit that when I read iOS 6, that it processed in my head as iPhone 5. It seems I mistakenly assumed that Apple was pulling another Siri and artificially limiting an application to their newest phone. The article still reads as fanboyism for the other reasons...
    • by jo_ham ( 604554 )

      iOS6 on a 2G or 3G?!

      Goodness, what are you smoking? It would be unusable! Although, if they were going for the Android user experience maybe it's a great idea!

      DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A JOKE (not even a very good one).

      In short, you have no idea what you're talking about. iOS6 won't run "just fine" on the original iPhone, or even the 3G. The earliest phone it supports is the 3GS, and even then it's going to be missing one or two of the more resource-hungry features.

      • by Belial6 ( 794905 )
        Mapping is not iOS6. Although I will admit that when I read iOS 6, that it processed in my head as iPhone 5. It seems I mistakenly assumed that Apple was pulling another Siri and artificially limiting an application to their newest phone. The article still reads as fanboyism for the other reasons.
    • And if it's bothering you that much, you can just turn your computer off and whine about it in...wait for it...3D!
  • by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Thursday July 26, 2012 @10:17PM (#40786789)
    Just how many cities does Google think are in Rome? By my count I have a pretty good guess what the city in Rome might be.
  • I guess now I have a reason to buy a newer iPhone if this only works on the 4S and not the 4 I have. Thanks, Google!

  • by PPH ( 736903 )

    Isn't Kansas flat?

    • by CompMD ( 522020 )

      Lawrence has some very hilly areas. Its really pretty to take off from Lawrence airport, head east, then south, then west along 15th Street . There's some lovely rolling hills.

      Kansas in general is surprisingly hilly. As another poster said, the Flint Hills are spectacular. Even in eastern Kansas and KC itself you'll see a lot of hills. There's even cave systems excavated in the hills for business and storage.

    • by spauldo ( 118058 )

      Depends how you define flat.

      Yeah, it's flat for non-desert land. That means some minor hills. If you've ever been to Iowa, imagine that with the hills about 1/3rd as high. That's why most people call it flat. It is more hilly than the Texas panhandle, but geometric planes have more hills than the Texas panhandle.

      It's not flat compared to, say, the ocean on a calm day. That's why most Kansans insist it's not flat.

      Oh, and the Flint Hills? Yeah, it's a ridge of hills that runs through the state. You'd b

  • by MatthiasF ( 1853064 ) on Thursday July 26, 2012 @11:31PM (#40787161)
    ..is the iPad 3.

    SAY IT! I WANT TO HEAR YOU SAY IT!

    No more of this "the new" crap.
    • by jo_ham ( 604554 )

      ..is the iPad 3.

      SAY IT! I WANT TO HEAR YOU SAY IT!

      No more of this "the new" crap.

      Officially it is "iPad (3rd Generation)" in technical specs, but for marketing reasons it's The New iPad until they release a newer one.

  • How's that thermonuclear thing working out for you now, Steve?

    • Judging by how lawsuits go so far, pretty good, actually.

    • Well if going thermonuclear is about who's surviving longest, Steve has apparently lost ;-)
  • I finally had time to load it up and check it out on my phone this morning. Initial findings:
    1) It is pretty freaking amazing.
    2) The gestures for navigation are perfect.
    3) It is awesome and makes me want a tablet.
    4) I hope they figure out a way to make trees not look like round-topped posts.
    5) Lucky for me, I'm happy to look at SF all day. They did a good job on the sunken plaza at the Powell Street BART station, but I wish they would have been able to perfectly render the sculpture at Justin Herman Plaza (

  • Vatican City? I don't think that is what was intended.
  • Yet Google Maps on iPad doesn't even have a distance measure, nor support offline map fragments (even as uselessly as Android). It also doesn't look vector-based yet, it's still tile-based. Google really have some catching up to do, and shouldn't be focusing just on minority new features for Google Earth.

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