The big furore over the iPhone 5 (other than those scratches) was of course Apple replacing Google Maps with its own not-quite-up-to-the-task-yet Maps app. Oh, the humanity!
Needless to say, Apple will be working flat out to improve iOS 6 Maps, and word on the street is it’s snapping up ex-Google Maps peeps. Makes sense to us.
The story is reported over on Technical Crunch, thanks to “a source with connections on both teams.”
The source reckons many Google Maps employees lost interest when the focus started to shift towards indoor mapping. That appears to be working in Apple’s favour.
“Many of my coworkers at Google Maps eventually left when their contracts ended or on their own accord,” says Jim Source. “One guy looked around for other GIS work and ended up at Apple when a recruiter contacted him.”
Jim continues: “Another co-worker that was a project lead at Google Maps, left for the East Coast after his contract ended, and was recently contacted by an Apple recruiter. He’s gone through 2 rounds of interview and seems like a frontrunner to land that position.”
The source acknowledges that Apple has a lot of work to do, but with those ex-Google peeps and a big pile of cash, it’s only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, a YouTube video shows the Google Maps app working on iOS 6. It's said to be "crashy" at the moment, but will eventually make its way to jailbroken iDevices. Of course, as we were saying the other day, you can always pop a shortcut to maps.google.com on your home screen.
