Evidence that Apple is building its own mapping service has been found in the first beta version of iOS 5. Mac Rumors reports that the legal disclaimers found in iOS 5 hold a new section called “Map Data,” which is separate from Google’s own legal terms for its map data.
In the new section, references to various companies are found. Those companies include Core Logic, a company offering Parcel data that marks boundaries of properties for positional accuracy, Getchee, which offers positional and market data for the Chinese, Indian, and Southeast Asian markets, Increment P Corp, a company providing location and traffic data for Japan, MapData Sciences, which provides mapping data for Australia and New Zealand, and DMTI, which provides postal code data for Canada.
The list also includes TomTom, which provides global TeleAtlas mapping data—also licensed by Google for its map solution—Urban Mapping, a company that provides in-depth neighborhood data and was a prior partner of PlaceBase, a mapping company acquired by Apple in 2007, and Waze, which offers real-time maps and traffic information based on crowd-sourced data.
What the inclusion of these companies in the iOS 5 legal disclaimers means for iOS 5 users is unclear, given Google’s claim that Apple has recently renewed its Map partnership with Google, however it appears that Apple is continuing to work on its own mapping service, even as it continues to include Google Maps in its iOS devices.
