Apple has launched its latest operating system named iOS6. This means it will have to do away with Google Maps software as the new operating system runs its own mapping app on Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices.
Apple’s updated iOS software was released in beta on Tuesday,
Apple will now run own mapping app that has a first-rate 3D mode on the platform. This comes barely a week following Google’s announcement of its own 3D mapping software on Android, its competing mobile platform.
It will be a free update for owners of either an iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS – as well as users of the latest iPad, the iPad 2 and fourth generation iPod touch, says chief executive Tim Cook.
Other features include “eye free,” an element Apple says is a joint effort with car manufacturers to integrate a “Siri button” to activate the iPhone’s voice-operated assistant.
Video calls can now be made over cellular connections, rather than relying on WI-FI, for the first time on Apple devices.
Analysts say Apple’s switch to its own platform will provide it with more opportunities to “monetize” its users.
BBC quoted Carolina Milanesi, an analyst for Gartner, saying “the opportunity that controlling maps gives to Apple for learning more about what their users are doing, keeping that information, and then being able to leverage that for advertising purposes is huge.”
Apple has also announced restored models in its Macbook Pro and Macbook Air brands.
Apple’s new Macbook Pro, 0.71 inches thick, with a high-resolution Retina display, uses Intel’s Ivy Bridge processor.
It has also upgraded its slimline Macbook Air range with improved graphics and processing capabilities.
Both will however offer a free upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion, the latest version of the Mac operating system set for release in July.
Among its features is enhanced synchronisation between desktop, laptop and mobile, thanks to iCloud, the company’s cloud-based storage service.
The two companies have used airplanes to take the imagery, drawing criticism from a number of privacy campaigners.
