Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Google
The battle in the mapping world is attracting huge investments from tech giants like Apple and Google, especially as their solutions – Apple Maps and Google Maps, respectively – spearhead their expansion in the automotive industry.
Both companies try to add new capabilities to their apps and expand their availability to more regions worldwide.
This week, search giant Google announced that Street View, the Google Maps feature that allows users to explore the map using street-level imagery, landed in Kazakhstan.
It might sound like a regular update at first, but collecting street images in Kazakhstan is no easy business. Google explains that the rough terrain made it difficult to collect data in some regions, so it installed specially designed Trekkers on pickup trucks.
The vehicles traveled over 42,000 kilometers (26,000 miles).
Google expanding Street View helps the search giant secure the leading spot in the mapping battle, though Apple is also working around the clock on improving the availability of Look Around.
The Street View competitor is bundled with the detailed city experience, Apple Maps' biggest update in history. The detailed city experience started rolling out in 2021, but considering it includes Apple's in-house maps, it involves a tremendous effort to reach the broad availability phase. The DCE is only available in limited regions, with Apple trying to bring it to more users and, therefore, compete against Google Maps with more advanced capabilities.
The detailed city experience also includes several other new features, including a Waze-inspired incident reporting component. With this feature, users can flag hazards found on the road, including accidents, speed traps, and other hazards. However, given the limited availability of the detailed city experience, the incident reporting feature currently sees lackluster adoption.
Apple Maps has become a critical product for Apple's automotive strategy following the demise of the Apple Car. Project Titan, the vehicle that Apple has been working on since at least 2014, has recently been abandoned, with the iPhone maker focusing all its efforts to expand in the car world on Apple Maps and CarPlay.
The strategy is similar to Google's, so Apple is now planning to compete against its rival using similar products. Apple even considered transforming CarPlay into a fully featured operating system, which would have turned it into a direct competitor to Android Automotive. Apple eventually abandoned the idea as it wanted CarPlay to retain its familiar connectivity option, which relies on an iPhone connected to the head unit with a cable or wirelessly. Apple will launch the new-generation CarPlay later this year, with Porsche and Aston Martin to pioneer its adoption on the first models. More information about the new CarPlay should be shared in the spring at Apple's upcoming WWDC developer event.
This week, search giant Google announced that Street View, the Google Maps feature that allows users to explore the map using street-level imagery, landed in Kazakhstan.
It might sound like a regular update at first, but collecting street images in Kazakhstan is no easy business. Google explains that the rough terrain made it difficult to collect data in some regions, so it installed specially designed Trekkers on pickup trucks.
The vehicles traveled over 42,000 kilometers (26,000 miles).
Google expanding Street View helps the search giant secure the leading spot in the mapping battle, though Apple is also working around the clock on improving the availability of Look Around.
The Street View competitor is bundled with the detailed city experience, Apple Maps' biggest update in history. The detailed city experience started rolling out in 2021, but considering it includes Apple's in-house maps, it involves a tremendous effort to reach the broad availability phase. The DCE is only available in limited regions, with Apple trying to bring it to more users and, therefore, compete against Google Maps with more advanced capabilities.
The detailed city experience also includes several other new features, including a Waze-inspired incident reporting component. With this feature, users can flag hazards found on the road, including accidents, speed traps, and other hazards. However, given the limited availability of the detailed city experience, the incident reporting feature currently sees lackluster adoption.
Apple Maps has become a critical product for Apple's automotive strategy following the demise of the Apple Car. Project Titan, the vehicle that Apple has been working on since at least 2014, has recently been abandoned, with the iPhone maker focusing all its efforts to expand in the car world on Apple Maps and CarPlay.
The strategy is similar to Google's, so Apple is now planning to compete against its rival using similar products. Apple even considered transforming CarPlay into a fully featured operating system, which would have turned it into a direct competitor to Android Automotive. Apple eventually abandoned the idea as it wanted CarPlay to retain its familiar connectivity option, which relies on an iPhone connected to the head unit with a cable or wirelessly. Apple will launch the new-generation CarPlay later this year, with Porsche and Aston Martin to pioneer its adoption on the first models. More information about the new CarPlay should be shared in the spring at Apple's upcoming WWDC developer event.
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