In the last few days Apple Corp have released their latest models of laptops, ultrabooks or notebooks and the latest innovations in their line up including new apps and accessories.

Of particular interest was the announcement that

Google Maps will be removed from their new devices in due course to be replaced with Apple Maps following in the footsteps of Nokia, which till now have been the only service where you could use maps on your phone without a data connection, something Google have also decided to emulate.

Whether the new Apple maps can also be brought up beforehand, i.e. without data connection, has not been reported.

http://www.benkoe.ch/?p=177 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So who is supplying Apple with the maps? It is Tom-Tom who are the suppliers, most of us know them as makers of GPS map unit mostly for car use, and they have had a bit of a hard time with the competition since first Google and then Nokia threw themselves into digital land maps.

Tom-Tom is a Dutch company and if you happen to have shares there you’d have enjoyed a 12% rise on the Stock Exchange in Amsterdam yesterday following the announcement by Apple. This followed Tom-Tom’s loss in the first quarter of 2012 of some 2 million Euros.

So what have we got to look forward to:
All Android phones will use Google Maps, all Windows based phones will use Nokia Maps and eventually all Apple phones will use Tom-Tom Maps.

For us here at SeniorNet Kapiti No excuse for getting lost any more.