Apple headhunting Google Maps devs to fix iOS 6 cartography problems
So, Apple’s own Maps app, introduced with iOS 6 last week, has proved a bit of a disaster. Nowhere near as comprehensive or accurate as the Google Maps app previously available to iPhone and iPad users, it’s becoming the butt of industry jokes, with no sign of Google’s own service making it back onto iDevices anytime soon.
Apple are looking to fix the problems fast, and are now said to be headhunting key members of the Google Maps team in order to do so, according to Tech Crunch sources.
The Cupertino company are offering competitive salaries ($85k+ for product development managers), as well as key incentives such as having the cost of relocating to Cupertino covered by the sizeable Apple coffers.
And it seems many Google Maps employees are chomping at the bit to get involved. With Google Maps a fully-functioning product, it now requires only “tedious updates” to keep it ticking over according to the source, while the recent shift towards mapping indoor locations doesn’t quite have the same allure as mapping the great outdoors. Likewise, the chance to work for Apple, now the most valuable tech company in the world, must be tempting.
But can Apple ever catch up on ten years worth of development and data harvesting by Google? Tech Crunch’s Google source believes so:
“Apple has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to build a robust mapping platform to counter Google Maps, so it doesn’t surprise me that it’s going out of its way to lure former and current Google Maps employees. At Google Maps, we know what data’s important, rendering priorities, keyword searches, and how the user experience is suppose to be. However, Apple needs to find a way to get its own 5 million miles of street view data, partner with the right folks, and spend a fortune on licensed data – which it can.”
Via: Tech Crunch
