Apple’s former CEO Steve Jobs was ready to go thermoneuclear with Google over Android and we can see the effects. For a long time while the rivalry was passive and we reported the same with caution. But given the news pouring in recently, it is difficult not to notice that Google is losing its hold on the default list appearing on the iPhones springboard. Siri uses Yelp and Wolfram Alpha and Google is already making an App Store app for Gmail.
Add to that Bing coming some time back as an option to replace the default Google search, there is more threat to Google on iOS than ever before. Given the fact that Google itself reports that 2/3rd of its mobile traffic comes from iOS, they would be worried for sure.
We have heard before about Apple making its own Maps app for iOS and after the job opening in Cupertino it seems they are increasingly getting serious about it. Siri was acquired in 2010 and is already on the iPhone 4S, the maps acquisition if processed at such speed would mean that the next iPhone (6th gen with iOS 6?) would do away with Google Maps.
The latest round of speculations come from another acquisition by Apple coming forward, this time it was a 3D maps maker C3 Technologies. Combining the C3 technologies innovation with all the other Maps work Apple has done over the years would mean a healthy competitor to Google. Currently Google Maps requires an active data connection and offline alternatives on the App store are expensive. Apple has given away iCloud and Siri for free, they might well give away Maps with turn by turn navigation free. Google not only would lose an icon on the iPhone, it would lose some revenues.
C3 is an impressive technology as your would see in the video below. The company uses missile targeting technologies and automatically renders high quality 3D maps. The recording is done on a flight and then processed offline to make the 3D render, pretty high tech. Here is a video explaining how C3 Technologies work:
[youtube]CNemPTHOKWg[/youtube]
Another video whos 3D maps created by C3 Technologies. If this is what is coming to iOS 5 / iPhones or iPads, we can be sure that Google Android and Microsoft’s Windows Phone would have a tough time.
[youtube]mlelVaxctI0[/youtube]