SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc took the wraps off its own mobile mapping service and improved the search capabilities of its Siri electronic assistant technology, as it rolled out souped-up software and hardware on Monday to help it wage war on Google Inc.
CEO Tim Cook, who took over from late co-founder Steve Jobs last August, spearheaded the unveiling of new services - such as in-house mapping, beefed-up Siri software, address-bar search on its Safari browser - to help keep at bay Google and its fast-growing Android mobile platform.
Apple tweaked a number of features in its mobile operating system to further its lead in enticing users to stay within its ecosystem. The upgrades marked a bolstering of Apple's arsenal as it tries to keep its top-down applications and hardware environment ahead of competition from Android device makers such as Samsung Electronics and Motorola Mobility.
The event's key highlight was the debut of Apple's new in-house mapping service that the company has been working on the past few years.
Its new mobile operating software -- the iOS6 -- comes with the mapping system "built from the ground up," said software chief Scott Forstall, sidelining the Google map service that the Internet giant has invested heavily in.
Apple will be replacing Google Maps, a pre-loaded app so far on the iPhone and iPad, with its own in-house map service, delivering a big blow to Google, which gets about half its map traffic from Apple devices.
No comments:
Post a Comment