• Google to Hold Maps Event Ahead of Apple’s WWDC

    // Gradly // 3D, Apple, blog, google, News, Rumors, Tech. 1 Response

    Google to Hold Maps Event Ahead of Apple's WWDC

    Google to Hold Maps Event Ahead of Apple's WWDC

    It makes sense for the timing Google has chosen to unveil what they have up their sleeves in terms of maps industry. Google will hold an invite-only event, on June 6th, to give the press their latest maps technologies.

    At this invitation-only press gathering, Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps and Google Earth, will give you a behind-the-scenes look at Google Maps and share our vision. We’ll also demo some of the newest technology and provide a sneak peek at upcoming features that will help people get where they want to go – both physically and virtually. We hope to see you there.

    The event takes place ahead of Apple’s WWDC, which to be held June 11th, in which Apple highly expected to reveal their propietary Maps solution along with 3D technology ditching the long-in-use Google Maps since the original 2007 iPhone.

    Google’s invitation touted the words”The Next Dimension of Google Maps” seems to point directly to the 3D feature expected to play a major part in Apple’s upcoming Maps service after the company purchased C3 Technologies, a Swedish 3D mapping company in 2010.

  • Apple’s iOS 6 New 3D Maps Screenshots Leaked

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, iPhone, News, Rants & Raves, Rumors 1 Response

    Apple’s iOS 6 New 3D Maps Screenshots Leaked

    Apple’s iOS 6 New 3D Maps Screenshots Leaked

    A new purported image of Apple’s upcoming Maps service has surfaced and this time by the guys at BGR who just posted a few images of Apple’s iOS 6 Maps app with 3D option which was heavily rumored this month.

    These shots looked very likely and they add up to the claims that Apple has worked on an in-house mapping solution for years now. Apple is reportedly testing its 3D technology in build 10A314 of iOS 6.

    Apple has been working on an in-house mapping solution for a few years, and it appears as if the company is finally ready to release a new Maps app for iOS, sidestepping Google’s mapping data for its own. BGR has obtained exclusive information and photos of parts of Apple’s new Maps app from a trusted source, and the app features a refreshed user interface including a brand new navigation bar. This bar, we’re told, is silver instead of blue. Since the current Maps app follows the standard blue iOS color scheme, we think it’s possible Apple might shift toward a silver color theme in iOS 6 like on the iPad.

    The iPhone version of Maps has a floating locate me button (it sounds very similar to Android’s Google Maps app) in the bottom left corner. To access 3D mode, which will make use of Apple’s C3 Technologies acquisition, you have to peel back the lower right corner of Maps just like the current version and enable 3D mode. Once enabled, you can switch in and out of 3D mode by tapping a 3D icon in the lower left corner. A photo of this feature can be seen in our gallery.

  • Apple to Unveil Ultra-thin 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display and USB 3

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Cloud, News, OS X, Rumors No Responses

    Ultra-thin15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display and USB 3

    Ultra-thin15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display and USB 3

    Apple is currently prepping to unveil a new 15-inch MacBook Pro. The new MacBook Pro is said to have an ultra-thin design, a Retina Display (probably 2880 X 1800), and USB 3 (~ 10 times USB 2). Bloomberg reports that Apple will announce the new MacBook Pro at this year’s WWDC, which is set to begin June 11th.

    This year WWDC would be super hit as Apple will announce the release date for Mountain Lion, which brings many features from iOS, like a Notification Center, iCloud integration, Messages.

    Mountain Lion

    Mountain Lion

    Along side the new MacBook and Mountain Lion, Apple is expected to unveil iOS 6 with a new and revamped proprietary maps app featuring 3D technology which could be the tentpole of this year keynote.

    According to a report from WSJ, Apple is expected to unveil an upgraded iCloud service at WWDC with new photo-sharing capabilities for sharing and commenting on sets of photos:

    The new features, expected to be announced at Apple’s world-wide developer conference beginning June 11, will allow iCloud users to share sets of photos with other iCloud users and to comment on them, these people said… Apple is trying to better compete in the red-hot market for photo sharing, dominated by fast-growing online services such as Facebook Inc. and mobile apps like Instagram—which Facebook has agreed to acquire for $1 billion.

  • Apple Rumored to Unveil Revamped 3D Maps in iOS 6

    // Gradly // 3D, Apple, blog, Rants & Raves, Rumors, Tech. 4 Responses

    Apple Rumored to Unveil Revamped 3D Maps in iOS 6

    Apple Rumored to Unveil Revamped 3D Maps in iOS 6

    Apple is expected to introduce a revamped Maps application in the next major update iOS 6, ditching Google Maps service as a backend to provide its proprietary solution that will feature 3D mapping technology.

    AllThingsD reported that the new feature is expected to be unveiled at Apple’s WWDC which will be held June 11 through 15 in San Francisco

    “Sources describe the new Maps app as a forthcoming tent-pole feature of iOS that will, in the words of one, ‘blow your head off,'” Paczkowski wrote. “I’m not quite sure what that means, and the source in question declined to elaborate, but it’s likely a reference to the photorealistic 3-D mapping tech Apple acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies.”

    Apple’s proprietary mapping solution has been a long time in the making after the company acquired Placebase, C3 Technologies, and Poly9.

    The most important thing in the new Maps application is a powerful new 3D mode provided by C3 Technologies:

    C3 Technologies is the leading provider of 3D mapping solutions, offering photo-realistic models of the world for search, navigation and geographic information systems. Since 2007 when it was spun out of the aerospace and defense company Saab AB, venture-backed C3 has redefined mapping by applying previously classified image processing technology to the development of 3D maps as a platform for new social and commercial applications. The Sweden-based company’s automated software and advanced algorithms enable C3 to rapidly assemble extremely precise 3D models, and seamlessly integrate them with traditional 2D maps, satellite images, street level photography and user generated images, that together are forever changing how people use maps and explore the world.