Apple Out To “Radically Improve” Map Functions And Location-Based Services [Acquisitions And Recent Job Postings Suggest Apple Wants To Make Finding You A Priority, Maybe Cut Out Google]

Posted on TFTS by Steve Anderson on Monday, 28. March 2011 under: Mobile/Cell Phones

“There’s an app for that” is becoming downright ubiquitous both as a slogan and as an eerily accurate assessment of the current environment. And to that end, it’s really not surprising to see Apple working on a whole new design to give both its apps, and its hardware, extra power. Word is they’re currently working on a whole new mapping system for its mobile gear, and there’s quite a bit to back this up.

One,back in 2009, Apple bought out PlaceBase, a mapping company with loads of map data and some software to access it. Now, Apple’s got a job posting out for its Maps team, looking for an “exceptional developer” (because no one’s ever looking for a “mediocre” or “lazy” developer) to “radically improve” the interaction between people and their maps or services that use location.

There are a lot of Apple apps out there that like to use your current location, so it’s not really a surprise that Apple may want to improve their various devices’ ability to tell just what your current location is. But there’s another possibility here that’s just a bit darker. We all know that iOS gear runs Google Maps, and that Google Maps is currently the top of the heap in terms of sheer usage. It’s got to be galling Apple that Apple users are basically using a competitor’s program for their mapping needs, so it’s not exactly surprising that Apple may want to take its PlaceBase acquisition and get in a developer to get Apple Maps up and running so they can show the Android the door for good, at least on their own system.

But considering that Google’s already got a lot on Apple in terms of mapping software (Google Maps has been steadily improving while reports suggest there haven’t been serious new Apple maps developments since back around iOS 1.x), and the gap is pretty wide, Apple’s going to have to do something pretty amazing to get its users off the Google.