Apple Replaces Google And Skyhook Databases With In-House Database To Provide Location-Based Services

Administrator — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:14:27 +0000

In June this year, Apple made a number of changes to its privacy policy that led two federal legislators to question the company's motives. While Cupertino's response to the issue itself is nothing unusual, the letter makes note of a subtle change in the use of location databases. In the communication, Apple writes:
“To provide the high quality products and services that its customers demand, Apple must have access to comprehensive location-based information. For devices running iPhone OS versions 1.1.3 to 3.1, Apple relied on (and still relies on) databases maintained by Google and Skyhook Wireless (“Skyhook”) to provide location-based services. Beginning with the iPhone OS version 3.2 released in April 2010, Apple relies on its own databases to provide location-based services and for diagnostic purposes. These databases must be updated continuously to account for, among other things, the ever-changing physical landscape, more innovative uses of mobile technology, and the increasing number of Apple ’s customers. Apple has always taken great care to protect the privacy of its customers.”
As the letter notes, Apple customers who use older versions of the
will continue to make use of location databases provided by Google and Skyhook. However, Apple 's use of an alternate in-house database in the newer versions mark an important strategic move to do away with the company's dependence on Google.
Also, location-based-services have seen an exponential growth in usage in recent times. Apple 's acquisition of PlaceBase and Poly9 are an indication of the company's focus in this new area of business. From that perspective, Apple 's use of its own location database in its iOS product is something that was very much on the cards.
, which has been available on the Android and advertised as one of the major features.Apple continues to use Google Maps for the Maps application that comes pre-installed on the iPhone , it will be interesting to see when Apple replaces it with its own app with turn-by-turn navigation as it seems to be the logical next step.
What do you think? Is Apple 's latest move driven by the potential growth prospects in the LBS segment or do you think the company merely wants to do away with its dependence on Google? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Is Apple’s In-House A4 Chip Truly Revolutionary As It Is Made Out To Be?

Administrator — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:34:35 +0000

However, is A4 really the
that it is made out to be? In a recent article, Jon Stokes from
questions the acclaimed superiority of the A4 chip and makes an argument against it.
According to his sources, the A4 chip is a 1GHz SoC made of a single Cortex A8 core and PowerVR SGX GPU and not a dual-core Cortex A9 chip as originally thought. This would make it comparable to the chips present on many of the modern day smartphones and hence is nothing revolutionary. Jon Stakes also claims that the iPad's leaner hardware that does not include resource-guzzling parts like a camera makes the A4 chip run faster than it would on smartphones with these features present. Stokes writes:
“With one 30-pin connector on the bottom and no integrated camera of any kind, the A4 needs a lot less in the way of I/O support than comparable chips that are intended for smartphones or smartbooks. This means that the A4 is just a GPU, a CPU, memory interface block (NAND and DDR), possibly security hardware, system hardware, and a few I/O controllers. It's lean and mean to a degree that isn't possible with an off-the-shelf SoC.”
“. He says that in the absence of a ”
” with A4, a revelation of its specs could divert the focus from features present on the iPad to what is not on the A4.
These arguments make sense, but at the end of the day, people who got a chance to play around with the iPad found it to be very responsive and a different league compared to the iPhone .
So does it really matter if it is really revolutionary or not, if it delivers great performance? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

APPLE iPhone and iPod » House

Apple Replaces Google And Skyhook Databases With In-House Database To Provide Location-Based Services

Is Apple’s In-House A4 Chip Truly Revolutionary As It Is Made Out To Be?