All Not Lost for Apple Map App

Map apps could be worth so much money to Apple that despite an early flop, and an agreement to put Google Maps app back on its devices, Apple will continue to develop its own.

Published

5 months ago

Categories

Technology

Topics

Apps, Smartphones

People

Lance Ulanoff

Companies

Apple Inc., Google Inc.

Transcript

After a rare miss with its Map app- Apple isn't giving up. Google Maps may have made its way back to the iPhone- but Apple will keep up the fight to stay in that space- because its potential for monetization is incredibly lucrative. Mashable's Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff says Apple needs to be in the game- even if it lost its way on this one thing. SOUNDBITE: LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, MASHABLE (ENGLISH) SAYING: "It will be a billion dollar industry if everybody can figure it out. You know the advertising, the connection to local commerce - these are - this is the Holy Grail." Apple debuted its own map service back in September- when it launched the iPhone 5 and rolled out ioS 6, an upgrade to its mobile software platform. But it was so widely panned, the CEO apologized and recommended users go to rival apps. And even though Google Maps is back on- Apple's navigation app is not leaving. It remains the default on iPads and iPhones. SOUNDBITE: LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, MASHABLE (ENGLISH) SAYING: "I think they have a 50-50 chance of being successful in the maps space. The product is not as bad as people say, and not as good as Apple told us it would be." Among the things they need to fix: The app needs to offer mass transit information, get better at labeling locations, and fix misplaced and often poorly rendered landmarks. Ulanoff says Apple is being very careful in its software updates - making sure that if it can get up after this big stumble, it won't fall down again.