Image courtesy of 9to5Mac
Before iOS 5 was released, word on street was that Apple has been preparing to boot Google out of Maps. A flurry of cartography-related purchases, along with the decision to snub the search giant in iPhoto for iOS–not to mention a very public feud over Android–have all pointed to an inevitable in-house overhaul of the aging locator app.
Now, thanks to the the ever-reliable sources at 9to5Mac, we’re told it’s set to be unveiled as part of iOS 6 at the upcoming WWDC. And if All Things D’s John Paczkowski is truly in the know, it’ll be “blow-your-head-off” big.
We looked at everything we know about the next Maps and decided they’re both right. Here’s what we found:
For the Places geotagging feature in its iOS version of iPhoto, Apple tapped the OpenStreetMap Foundation, a collaborative, worldwide wiki community that “creates and provides free geographic data and mapping to anyone who wants it.” Apple likes uniformity in its apps, so a quick move to OSM in Maps makes a lot of sense–plus Think of all the open-source street cred–but it wouldn’t be worth the time spent swapping out all those map tiles without a major facelift.
Back in July 2009, Apple quietly purchased PlaceBase, a Google Maps competitor that was experimenting with customizable maps to increase rendering speeds and map quality; by putting elements on a separate layers, PlaceBase let users choose display data based on their needs (kind of like Maps’ traffic lines, but for streets, parks, rivers, etc.).
A recent Apple patent filing by PlaceBase co-founders Jaron Waldman and Moran Ben-David introduces “schematic maps,” which builds upon the startup’s original idea. According to the documentation, “schematic maps can be ‘distorted’ to better illustrate important maps areas in greater detail … while deemphasizing less important map areas by illustrating them in less detail … to provide a simple and clear representation sufficient to aid a user in guidance or orientation.” This is basically the same concept they introduced at PlaceBase, but with fancy animation (presumably blurring or shadowing) in place of the missing data.
In mid-2010, Apple purchased the second piece of its mapping puzzle, Canadian-based Poly9, the brains behind the powerful (though Flash-powered) interactive 3D Poly9 Globe project.
Poly9 actually had its own database (according to its LinkedIn profile, its primary focus was on “extending the capabilities of web-mapping platforms to help you solve problems where location is critical”) and its powerful APIs are the treasure here (you’ve seen them in action if you ever followed St. Nick using NORAD’s Santa tracker). Apple will likely use Poly9′s location expertise in tandem with PlaceBase’s renderings to create beautiful landscapes that (literally) leave no stone unturned.
Poly9′s specialty was 3D, but Apple’s got yet another trick up its sleeve: C3 Technologies. The Swedish Saab spinoff is where the real “blow your head off” stuff comes into view: We’re talking about Google Earth-style, 360-degree imaging with pinpoint accuracy, right down to the missing shingles on your neighbor’s house.
According to a 2011 report by Fast Company, C3 “renders 3-D color models of entire cities–its buildings, statues, even it’s trees–to a resolution of 15 centimeters. With a background in aero-engineering (Saab doesn’t just make cars no one wants), C3 one-ups Google Earth by taking to the skies to create maps with stunning depth and detail–and that was before the company was bought by Apple last year. We can only imagine what they’ve cooked up in Cupertino.
The big news of the day has to be the discovery of a beta iCloud website, which has the rumor blogs grabbing up paper bags in an effort to stifle their hyperventilation. Seems as if we’ll be seeing new Reminders and Notes web apps as part of the iCloud website, but personally we’d prefer some of the old-school MobileMe settings and features to come back. Oh well, we can’t have everything — but one thing we can have is a break for the weekend, right after you have a look at the news for this Friday, May 11, 2012.
Apple’s Siri virtual assistant may sometimes seem like she’s a miracle worker, but after using the iPhone 4S for a while, all of the things she’s not capable of soon come to light. One of those is language translation, but fear not — developer Sonico GmbH, makers of the iTranslate app, have created their own App Store solution called iTranslate Voice, which emulates the Siri experience and translates whatever you speak into it into one of 31 different languages. The full list includes English (US), English (UK), English (Australia), Spanish (Spain), Spanish (United States), Spanish (Mexico), French (France), French (Canada), German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin (China), Mandarin (Taiwan), Cantonese, Korean, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Polish and Russian, a few others are also available for voice output as well. Since the 3.4MB app just launched on Thursday, the developer is having a sale and it can be yours for a mere 99 cents, but it will be worth its weight in gold if you’re about to head overseas. Just make sure you have an internet connection, which is required to use iTranslate Voice.
9to5Mac is reporting that Apple has accidentally leaked some forthcoming features of iCloud, following the discovery of a beta website with web apps for Notes and Reminders — both of which are making the leap from iOS to OS X Mountain Lion this sunny summer. Code strings for the beta website have also turned up references to iOS 6, which is expected to be previewed next month at WWDC 2012 in San Francisco. The beta.icloud.com website has been up and down sporadically all day, but we can indeed confirm its existence, which requires a developer account to access. But don’t worry, we’re sure that Apple plans even more surprises for us in a few short weeks…
Face.com has announced the release of its KLIK app on Thursday, a camera app that uses facial recognition to quickly tag Facebook friends in real-time. The free app requires a Facebook account and iOS 4.3 or later, but also adds some Instagram-style fun with “Face Filters,” the app’s own built-in technology focused on making faces appear better in photos. While you’re not using KLIK to snap photos, the app can be used to check out Facebook feeds nearby, for your friends and even other photos. Perhaps the star feature of KLIK is its ability to see your friends’ names instantly appear next to their faces, even before you’ve taken a photo of them — or the app can be trained to learn the names of people it doesn’t recognize. KLIK is available now from the App Store and it’s absolutely free.
As part of a profile on manufacturer Foxconn’s plans to shift into distribution, China Daily appears to have inadvertently let slip some news about another project more near and dear to Apple fans. Foxconn CEO Terry Gou reportedly told the newspaper the company “is making preparations for iTV, Apple Inc.’s rumored upcoming high-definition television.” Now before you trip over yourself in search of a credit card to buy the thing, the report notes that neither development nor manufacturing has actually started yet — so we don’t necessarily know anything more about the fabled Apple HDTV than we did yesterday. Take it for what it’s worth, folks…
MacRumors is reporting that Dropbox appears to have tweaked its SDK to Apple’s liking, with iOS developers noting that their Dropbox-enabled apps are again being approved by App Store reviewers. Always trying to get developers to stick to the letter of its frequently vague App Store laws, app rejections started piling up a week or so ago, all related to how the Dropbox SDK previously included a Mobile Safari link to sign up for those who don’t have an account — a definite no-no, since users could then choose to upgrade their account to one of the paid options without giving Apple their 30 percent from in-app purchases. The developers of Cambox quickly deployed the new Dropbox SDK, submitted it to Apple on Thursday and the update is already approved and available in the App Store. Crisis averted, folks — nothing to see here.
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Close on the heels of iOS 5.1.1’s arrival on Monday, the second and third generation black Apple TV models finally got their own taste of the modest software update on Thursday night with Apple TV Software Update 5.0.1.
Apple has released Apple TV Software Update 5.0.1, which despite the version numbering scheme, incorporates the miscellaneous fixes rolled into iOS 5.1.1 earlier this week into the Apple TV as well.
The update also addresses a handful of Apple TV-specific issues which include:
iTunes previews
Previews for movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store can now be viewed in HD.
AirPlay
Fixes an issue that caused some iOS apps to have trouble connecting via AirPlay.
Home Sharing
Improves the reliability of Home Sharing connections.
Netflix
Addresses an issue affecting Netflix login and navigation.
Stability and performance
Includes fixes for issues affecting stability and performance.
Those all sound like good reasons to download the update, but fair warning: If you’re currently enjoying a jailbreak on your second-generation black Apple TV, you’ll lose it should you install this update. (There’s currently no such jailbreak for the latest 1080p model.) But we’re pretty sure the hackers will come to our rescue soon enough…
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
It’s that time again, kiddies — Apple has fired up the Software Update factory once again and the assembly line is busy pushing OS X Lion 10.7.4 onto Macs everywhere, with a little Safari 5.1.7 thrown in for good measure.
Apple has released OS X Lion 10.7.4 and Safari 5.1.7 on Wednesday, right on the heels of iOS 5.1.1 earlier in the week. The new updates are available now via Software Update, or can be downloaded manually and installed.
OS X Lion 10.7.4 includes a number of fixes, so let’s cut straight to the chase:
• Resolve an issue in which the “Reopen windows when logging back in” setting is always enabled.
• Improve compatibility with certain British third-party USB keyboards.
• Addresses permission issues that may be caused if you use the Get Info inspector function “Apply to enclosed items…” on your home directory. For more information, see this article.
• Improve Internet sharing of PPPoE connections.
• Improve using a proxy auto-configuration (PAC) file.
• Address an issue that may prevent files from being saved to an SMB server.
• Improve printing to an SMB print queue.
• Improve performance when connecting to a WebDAV server.
• Enable automatic login for NIS accounts.
• Include RAW image compatibility for additional digital cameras.
• Improve the reliability of binding and logging into Active Directory accounts.
Oddly, the OS X Lion v10.7.4 update also includes Safari 5.1.6, even though Apple is currently pushing out Safari 5.1.7, which disables outdated versions of Adobe Flash Player “to help keep your Mac secure.” A support document explains how to re-enable an out-of-date version, should you prefer to play fast and loose with your Mac’s security.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
When your trial looks too big to fit in the courtroom, you slim it down or postpone it.
Apple and Samsung once again think different, and for different reasons.
The heavyweight courtroom bout between Apple and Samsung, scheduled to begin on July 30, 2012, continues to go through some fascinating pre-trial gyrations. Last week, Judge Lucy Koh ordered Apple and Samsung to streamline the case. At the time, the trial was aiming to deal with an antitrust case, 37 potentially infringing products, six trademarks, 16 patents, and five trade dress claims.
Since both companies will only have 25 hours to present their cases to a jury, and trying to jam all of that legal fencing into the case in time would be, according to Judge Koh, “cruel and unusual punishment to a jury, so I’m not willing to do it.”
Apple wants the trial to begin on time, asserting that the longer it takes, the more they are suffering from infringement; not surprisingly, Samsung appears to prefer postponing the trial, having already been sanctioned once for delaying.
We’re gonna need a little more time while we sell these products we slavishly copied.
“To preserve the July 30 trial date, Apple is willing to narrow the case on its patents for jury trial to four utility patent claims and a small set of design-related claims,” Apple said. Apple basically cut their claims in half, filing what Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents calls “a truly impressive narrowing of its infringement claims.”
Samsung countered with an offer to drop five of its 12 asserted patents, but continued to state that Apple’s case is still just too big to go to trial on time this sunny summer.
If your company is benefitting from illegally using another company’s intellectual property, clearly it is in your best interest to prevent any legal action from happening for as long as you can. As Mueller writes, “But between these two companies here, there can be no doubt about who’s copied from whom, just like there can be no doubt about who singlehandedly revolutionized an entire industry.”
We’d like to see this trial start as scheduled on July 30 so we can get some offical rulings on those thoughts.
Adrian writes the weekly Law & Apple column for MacLife.com. Follow him on Twitter, or subscribe to him on Facebook.
