Maps

Although it was an open secret, the rumors remained confirmed yesterday at event WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) 2012 by Apple The tool Apple Maps is everything we hoped for, and more. One of the surprises at the end of the conference with which they intend to to completely detach fromGoogle Maps and start a fight that, surely, will make people talkAnd it is that the functions of Maps, as it seems that those of Apple have called this application, they are the most surprising We will discuss them below.

First of all, we must remember that Apple already disassociated itself from Google Maps a few months ago, thus confirming the development of itsown tool But not everything has been a matter of Apple Shortly after yesterday's event, the companyTomTom, known above all for her co-pilots GPS, confirmed that she is who supplies the maps to Apple And, in addition to the well-known GPS, TomTom has an extensive digital cartography covering more than 200 countriesand always updated.

With this, the application Apple Maps already has a point earned, however, they are many more functions that it has This application is designed with vector images, which means power interact with it without ever losing clarity in the data, always showing in a legible way the information of streets, buildings or points of interest And it is that, in addition to showing a map with streets, roads, buildings, green areas and others , has a lot of additional information about these places. Thus, it is possible to touch on a point of it and know what business is located in that place , view photos about it or find information such as the phone of that establishment. Something called local search

But there's more. This mapping tool has full integration with the GPS function of Apple devices, which means knowing the current location of the user and the possibility of indicating how to get to other points This function has been called by Apple Turn-by-Turn Navigation, or what is the same, step-by-turn navigation Thus, the device works as aGPS that accompanies the user to each curve, indicatingindicating the estimated time of arrival, even when the screen turns off and the terminal remains idle In addition, the map perspective is dynamic , showing buildings and streets with volume to make it even more representative The only problem it raises this function is that, for now, it will only be available on the phone iPhone 4S, on iPad 2and the new iPad

Related to the function of GPS navigation, Maps It has another interesting addition that only Nokia Maps has, and that is missing in Google Maps : the traffic information Thus, it is possible to know first-hand the retentions, accidents and collapses of the roads on which they circulate, and, if necessary, calculate alternative routes to avoid these traffic problems. For now it is unknown if it is the user himself who reports accidents and delays, as the application Waze does , or if it is information collected by TomTom

One of the surprises hidden in this map application is the possibility of using the wizard Siri voice With it, it's even easier to perform a destination search in the Maps app , since you only have to ask it to indicate the way to there In addition, it has other types of interaction, allowing you to search for nearby places and how to get to them Something very useful when traveling through an unknown place and want to stop to eat or find a place to sleep, for example. Although, again, we must talk about limitations, and for now, this function will only be available on the iPhone 4S and in the new iPad Something that is not fully understood, since the rest of the devices have the technical qualities needed to use the voice assistant

But, without a doubt, the most striking and interesting of this map tool from Apple is its function Flyover, or what is the same, the possibility of viewing the maps in three dimensions and in a realistic way And, with this function it is possible to rotate, rotate and zoom on any part of the map, being able to see all the perspectives of a building as it looks live and direct . Something that, as seen in this video, is really amazing and that depends directly on the company C3 Technologies purchased by Apple To activate it, just lift the lower right corner of the map , where a new menu appears with the option Flyover Of course, for now its operation is limited to iPhone 4S and the two latest versions of the iPadThis is more understandable than the previous one, since a great data processing is necessary to load and display the images in three dimensions

In short, it is a great mapping tool that seems to be coming with a lot of strength and potential. Something that could start a service war with Google Maps, who has been the clear winner thus far. Perhaps you are missing the possibility of knowing the public transport routes and schedules in the Apple application , although we will have to see how this tool finally arrives through the new version of the iOS 6 operating system, planned for next month ofOctober