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As speculative as it seems, this coincides with that mapping company Apple bought in recent times. Forgot the name of the company, but they had some beautiful 3
by deepGem 14y ago
As speculative as it seems, this coincides with that mapping company Apple bought in recent times. Forgot the name of the company, but they had some beautiful 3D views of select cities. For all you know Apple might make 3D maps standard in iOS 6. Damn, wouldn't that be something :).
- robin_reala 14y agoThat would be Nokia. See: http://maps3d.svc.nokia.com/webgl/ http://maps3d.svc.nokia.com/webgl/
- headShrinker 14y agoApple bought a startup focused on mapping but it wasn't Nokia. I don't remember the name of the company...
- nextparadigms 14y agoIt was this: http://www.slashgear.com/apple-acquires-c3-technologies-for-next-generation-3d-mapping-29191834/ http://www.slashgear.com/apple-acquires-c3-technologies-for-... It looks a lot like Google Earth. Google can just integrate Google Earth into the mobile maps to compete. They've already done it on the web version.
- ajross 14y agoThat's what I keep thinking every time someone talks about Google getting beaten in maps. They've had the "eye candy maps app" available for download for seven years now. That said, having some competition in the market is a good thing. I do wish more of it was concentrated on free products like OpenStreetMap though.
- culturestate 14y agoThere's a distinct difference, as far as I know: the C3 solution can do large-scale automated rendering of 3D terrain based on aerial photography, and Google Earth's geomodeling is done by hand. That means that Apple can, effectively, render the entire world in 3D if they choose to, limited only by money and computing resources. Google is limited by manpower.
- streblo 14y agoThat would be Placebase http://blogs.computerworld.com/14835/apple_purchased_mapping_company_in_july_to_replace_google http://blogs.computerworld.com/14835/apple_purchased_mapping...
- untog 14y agoHonestly, the utility of 3D maps is way overblown. Even satellite map tiles are too- way too much extra, unimportant information.
- sbarre 14y agoThat depends on what you are using the map view for. I've often used the satellite/hybrid view to help orient myself in unfamiliar cities or areas by finding reference points (coloured buildings, obvious statues or landmarks etc)... If you just want to know that a given address is on street X between avenues 4 and 5, then sure, but that's not the only use for a Maps app..
- Terretta 14y ago> Even satellite map tiles are too- way too much extra, unimportant information. They're great for geocaching though.
- davepm 14y agoSo true, saved so much hunting time by using the satellite maps! Especially the nano's in the middle of cities etc!
- r00fus 14y agoI uprated you, but honestly it's incredibly useful to see the satellite details for several things - find a kids park with good greenery (or extensive playground) via satellite map as opposed to Google/yelp directory information is a hell of a lot easier. If you're looking to buy a house, you can easily determine if the location is close to any undesirable looking areas. Some minor landmarks (say, a parking lot) are also visible to satellite that may not be shown or easily inferred without imagery. A picture (tile) is worth at 1,000 words indeed.
- sbov 14y agoMaybe I'm just an excessive planner, but I like satellite maps and google's street view for things such as: locating parking lot entrances, locating exactly where a business I'm visiting is, scoping out street parking, getting an idea of the neighborhood's look, and, of course, seeing if my car is pictured anywhere.
- yellowbkpk 14y agoApple bought three geo-related companies in the last few years. My guess is C3 Technologies for 3D/"satellite" layer, Poly9 for the street maps layer, and Placebase for the POI. I imagine they've been working on unifying them for a while now and we will see the fruit of that labor soon.