Google has just announced that they're holding an event for Google Maps directly before Apple's World Wide Developer Conference next week. The timing of June 6 isn't entirely a surprise since we're expecting the announcement of iOS 6 to include Apple's own Maps infrastructure in the place of Google's.
This is a pretty big deal, since the iPhone has been using the Google Maps engine since the very beginning of iOS. Google and Apple have been understandably drifting apart over the last couple of years as Android has gained prominence. That said, one can expect that the Google Maps announcement will be directly competing with Apple's for attention, and tactically aimed at deflating some of the excitement that iOS 6 maps will offer.
One of the big rumors surrounding Apple's upcoming revamping of the Maps app is 3D visualization. So, naturally, the Google Maps invitation reads: "The Next Dimension of Google Maps". Clever Google.
I can only wonder how much longer YouTube will remain a prominent preload given the strained relationship between Apple and Google. Who else could Apple reasonably partner with for video, or search for that matter? I can't picture Bing being the default search engine in Safari for iOS, or Siri intermediate and anonymize a lot of queries, robbing Google of what they truly need, the data behind the searches and the ads they return, but it sure would be neat to see Vimeo take YouTube's place. If Google loses its footing as a core part of the iOS experience, will they still maintain a presence in the App Store, or will they try to go to the mobile web with everything, like they did with Voice once upon a time?
Of course, nothing is official just yet - we don't even know for sure if Apple and Google are breaking up over maps. Who knows? Maybe Google is still a part of the picture somehow, even with all of Apple's direct involvement.
Source: The Next Web via AndroidCentral
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