Does this mean Google Maps will no longer be available on the iPhone?

Apple and Google have had many “skirmishes” during the last few months. There was this issue on Google Voice and Google Latitude where Apple put these on indefinite review and then claimed that these were hurting the iPhone’s intrinsic features. And currently, Eric Schmidt is no longer on Apple’s board either.

Most recently, Apple acquired PlaceBase–a mapmaking company that is a competitor to Google Maps. This is an indication that Google Maps may no longer be available foe the iPhone. Apple acquired the company way back in July, but new about the acquisition has come to light only now.

PlaceBase is very similar to Google Maps. The whole world in included in the map and specification locations can be zoomed in and out–which is very similar to Google Maps. One area where PlaceBase seems to have an upper hand is that it it far more customizable and allows more layers of information to be added.

It can be said with certainty that in the coming days, Apple and Google will compete with each other more and more as each encroaches the other’s market segment. Google Android and Chrome OS mark Google’s entry into the OS market. Under these situations, it makes perfect sense that Apple would opt for its own software instead of Google’s.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 2:15 pm and is filed under Apple. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.