Google Maps

The world's most popular online mapping system made its return late on Wednesday with the long awaited release of the Google Maps iPhone application. The announcement comes almost three months after Apple replaced Google Maps on the iPhone devices with an Apple version. A version which proved to be far inferior to Google’s, transforming what should have been a loss for Google, into a massive gain.

So what was wrong with Apple’s Maps? A few things. It misplaced important landmarks, overlooked towns and it led to people getting horribly lost. Australian police branded Apple Maps as potentially ‘life threatening’ because the system took people heading to city Mildura into a remote desert, 44 miles away from Mildura.

Google is hailing its new iPhone app as a major improvement from its inferior Apple predecessor. The additional tools in the free Google iPhone app include turn by turn directions, a feature which Google declined to put on their own previous app. A feature which has always being included on the android versions of Google Maps. This is a clear illustration of the continuous jostling for the leadership in the increasingly competitive smartphone app market.

Google Maps also offers street level photography of local neighbourhoods, as well as three- dimensional views, public transit directions and listings for more than 80 million businesses. However it isn’t all good news, the app still lacks some of the mapping features available on the android devices, such as directions inside shopping centres and other buildings. All is not lost for Apple however.

The addition of Google Maps to Apple’s arsenal means that customers are less likely to switch to an android advice for the improved map capabilities. It may even encourage some iPhone users to upgrade to the newer IOS 6 software. Some people resisted the new version as they didn’t want to lose access to the impressive old Google Mapping application built into the IOS 5 versions and previous models. The investors however struggled to see the positives as Apple’s shares slid by $ 9.31 when compared to Google’s creeping up $5.14.

So how was the new Google App received? Well, from the outset incredibly well. The new alternative was already the top- ranking free app on iTunes by early Thursday morning. Nearly 90 per cent of users gave Google Maps a maximum five star rating.