Apple, in response to questions from a US congressional investigation into technological antitrust issues, revealed that it had invested billions of dollars in the Maps app.
Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google have all provided answers to questions from the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, presented as part of an ongoing antitrust investigation into the company’s various relationships in the digital market.
While little new information emerged from the process, a handful of information on Apple’s business emerged. When asked “how much did you invest in Maps? “, The company replied” billions “.
Apple executives had previously hinted at a high price for the project, which essentially builds a mapping system from scratch, but the actual figures were never declared.
How many billions of dollars have been invested in Maps is not known. To create the new Maps app, which was launched along with iOS 12, Apple has collected mountains of map, navigation, routing and image data from dedicated platforms such as vans. Years of work have culminated in an exclusive mapping product for iOS that boasts highly accurate cartography, rich road maps, integrations with public transport and more.
New features continue to be added to Maps, such as the Look Around mode in iOS 13. Similar to Google’s Street View, Look Around provides street-level images for real-world navigation , but Apple’s solution is based on 3D images and other touch features for a more interactive experience. Look Around is slowly spreading in certain metropolitan areas.
Apple was largely encouraged to create a complete mapping solution after the embarrassing launch of Maps in 2012, the company’s first foray into the world of mapping after abandoning most of the Google services integrated into iOS 6. Considered by some a serious mistake, Maps in iOS 6 was unreliable and incorporated incorrect data, while its signature feature – Flyover – suffered from graphical problems.
The criticisms have been so acute that CEO Tim Cook has apologized to customers frustrated by the software.
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