Google Maps for iPhone Released, iPad Mini Coming to Russia Dec 14

Remember how Google was not working on a map for iPhone? The company is not a good liar. iPhone users will now have the option to download Google Maps for iPhone to their device. Apple has approved the first version of the all new Google Maps. The app brings built-in Google local search, voice guided turn by turn navigation, public transit directions, and Street View.

The new Maps app by Google is available for free and comes in 29 languages for more than 40 countries. Apple was never going to re-adopt this application, and it won’t have to.

It’s embarrassing for Apple to reuse Google’s map application as it suggests Apple failed to meet market expectations…This shows how much harder Apple had to push itself to come up with great innovations, only for it to end up as a big mistake.

said Hwang Min-Seong, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Samsung Securities Co. With the Google Maps app, users will be able to get high resolution satellite imagery of almost any location. The user-interface is streamlined and sleek. Apple may or may not get to completely fix its maps app in the near future. But thanks to Google Maps for iPhone, iOS users will have more options.

Speaking of Apple, the company is planning to bring the iPad mini to Russia on December 14. The iPad mini has been quite popular in this side of the world. The WiFi version will be hitting the Russian market first with the cellular models coming later. The iPad mini will retail for 14,990 rubles for the 16GB model.