Apple makes war on Google maps

FourSquare, a service where friends say where they are and get rewards for exploring places, gave the first warning. During the Mobile World Congress Barcelona announced they were leaving Google maps . On Wednesday, during the presentation of the iPad was known , in fact, that Apple does without the services of Google Maps in one of its star applications, iPhoto.

FourSquare and Apple have both opted for Open Street Map , a website that is gaining more followers. Firstly because it is easy to use. Second, it maintains the philosophy of Wikipedia. They have over 400,000 registered volunteers that are updated as changes occur in streets.

A FourSquare has been particularly useful to be as open as they have exploited to revamp their icons and indications. He has been embraced with such force that is committed to actively participate in its improvement.

In Apple's case there has been a spokesman and its operating system, by default, the map application of Google. However, iPhoto, just released in iPad and iPhone, has chosen to follow the trail of FourSquare. Open Street Map has welcomed them in his blog and clarified that Apple was using a year ago, but internally.

This move Apple seems transitory, until you list your own version. Buying Poly9 Placebase in 2009 and in 2010 indicate that soon could dispense with services outside the apple company.

Anyway Open Street has its dark spots. It works very well in areas with high population density. If a place is very busy is amended as soon as a change, but has dark areas in rural areas and no satellite images help both in the version of Google.

Google's strategy is quite logical, but also aggressive. When they launched their service attracted many customers by allowing free access to consumers and businesses. Opened its application programming interface for other services, as mentioned Apple and FourSquare, integrate maintaining the aesthetics of your website. That's how successfully harvested into almost standard. According to ComScore estimates, measuring Internet traffic, 49% of mobile applications and tablet mapping using the browser.

The price of GoogleMaps

In April 2011 reported via his blog that he was still free to queries on the web, but with a limit of 25,000 requests to their servers. Search pages from hotels or apartments, they need to show clearly how to get there, they must pay more than three euros (four dollars) per 1000 additional consultations . This figure does not seem too high, unless you have to pay for the use that is made ​​from 180 million iPhone distributed worldwide and 60 million iPads. The Spanish subsidiary has refused to discuss the matter and has not provided access to a spokesman for Google Maps that, since birth has had privacy issues. Google Maps added a layer at street called StreeView that recorded both buildings and people.

Peter Fleischer, chief privacy Google, acknowledged in an interview this means that in Europe had given them some headaches . The usual procedure to disappear from it was to fill a form with the request. That is, a posteriori. More than likely that many citizens in the most remote, ignore that are cause for derision .

In Germany the commotion was such that they had to choose to take a period prior to the publication of images for users to officially denied permission to leave home.

The movement of Apple and Google FourSquare gives some of his own medicine. When they broke into this field NavQuest dethroned, the leading map provider until then, and still continues to operate in much of the car GPS navigators.