Apple’s apology about their below-par maps app has brought the limelight back to its competitors such as Bing, Yahoo, Nokia and Google. It was Google’s map that Apple was using in the iPhone and iPod Touch.

There were expectations that Google would bring back its map as a separate app for iOS, but that was not to be. Google put an end to the speculation that it was not developing the map app for iOS.

Then came the apology from Apple. CEO Tim Cook himself turned the focus towards Apple competitors. “While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their Web sites and creating an icon on your home screen to their Web app.”Maps are increasingly used in mobiles and tablets, and that’s the reason Apple’s announcement is important. Cook left out Yahoo! from the list as it does not have a mobile app or site. The odd one out in the list is Waze, which is much more than just maps. Waze is a community-based traffic & navigation app, which plugs “into the driving community in your area, joining forces with other drivers nearby to outsmart traffic and save time”. In other words, Waze uses the users’ inputs to alert other users about traffic and police traps. And if you are wondering if it will work in India, it does! What’s more, it even has a navigation guide.

dinakaran.rengachary@gmail.com

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