{"id":18198,"date":"2015-06-10T09:16:40","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T13:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=18198"},"modified":"2015-06-11T07:31:41","modified_gmt":"2015-06-11T11:31:41","slug":"apple-confirms-vans-are-for-maps-data-improvement-discloses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2015\/06\/10\/apple-confirms-vans-are-for-maps-data-improvement-discloses\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Confirms Vans are for Maps Data Improvement – Discloses Future Locations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screen<\/a>Apple, in a\u00a0path eerily similar to the path that Google took during their first years of on-line\u00a0mapping, has publicly acknowledged<\/a> that their vans are being used to supplement their Maps data.<\/p>\n

Google Maps was first rolled out in February of 2005 and \u00a0started<\/a> their StreetView program in May, 2007 in\u00a0\u00a0only five cities (Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, New York and San Francisco).\u00a0By\u00a0October, 2009 Google had replaced<\/a>\u00a0TeleAtlas (\u00a0having\u00a0switched<\/a>\u00a0from Navteq a year earlier)\u00a0as their\u00a0data supplier\u00a0in the US with\u00a0their own base map and road geometry data from StreetView.<\/p>\n

Apple Maps was rolled out\u00a0in September, 2012 and Apple’s\u00a0street view vans were first spotted<\/a> in February of this year, 29 months\u00a0after the introduction of Maps compared to Google’s 27 months. Given that Apple, like Google, is building their capacity internally they can’t be\u00a0expected\u00a0to move significantly faster than Google. They do however have the benefit of being able to study Google’s history and priorities which might allow them to avoid some of Google’s pitfalls.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Image Courtesy of iPhoneHacks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Apple has rolled out a new page<\/a> on a subdomain on their web site detailing\u00a0that the vans that have been spotted are in fact being used to improve Apple Maps data quality. (H\/T AppleInsider<\/a>).<\/p>\n

They note:<\/p>\n

Apple is driving vehicles around the world to collect data which will be used to improve Apple Maps. Some of this data will be published in future Apple Maps updates.<\/em><\/p>\n

We are committed to protecting your privacy while collecting this data. For example, we will blur faces and license plates on collected images prior to publication.<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition Apple is listing all of the cities that they will be driving in during the second two weeks of June in the US, UK and Ireland:<\/p>\n

Ireland1
\nLeinster
\nDublin (Dublin City [Ashtown, Ballybough, Ballyfermot, Ballygall, Ballymun, Beaumont, Cabra, Chapelizod, Cherry Orchard, Clontarf, Coolock, Crumlin, Donaghmede, Drimnagh, Drumcondra, East Wall, Fairview, Finglas, Firhouse, Glasnevin, Inchicore, Irishtown, Kilbarrack, Kilmainham, Kilmore, Kimmage, Knocklyon, North Wall, Pembre, Phibsborough, Raheny, Rathfarnham, Rathgar, Rathmines, Ringsend, Sandymount, Santry, Templeogue, Terenure, The Liberties, Walkinstown, Whitehall], D\u00fan Laoghaire\u2013Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin)
\nEngland1
\nEast of England
\nEssex (Brentwood, Epping Forest), Hertfordshire (Broxbourne, Dacorum, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers, Watford, Welwyn Hatfield)<\/p>\n

Greater London
\nBarking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, City of London, City of Westminster, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth<\/p>\n

South East
\nKent (Dartford, Sevenoaks), Surrey (Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Spelthorne)<\/p>\n

West Midlands
\nBirmingham (Sutton Coldfield, Perry Barr, Erdington, Ladywood, Hodge Hill, Yardley, Edgbaston, Hall Green, Selly Oak, Northfield), Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Staffordshire, Walsall, Warwickshire, Worcestershire<\/p>\n

United States
\nArizona:Pima (Tucson)
\nCalifornia: Alameda (Oakland), Los Angeles (Los Angeles)
\nFlorida: Orange County (Orlando)
\nGeorgia: Fulton (Atlanta)
\nHawaii: Hawaii (Oahu)
\nIllinois: Cook (Chicago)
\nMassachusetts: Suffolk (Boston)
\nMichigan: Wayne (Detroit)
\nMissouri: St. Louis (St. Louis)
\nNew York: New York (New York City)
\nTexas: Dallas (Dallas), Tarrant (Fort Worth)
\nUtah: Salt Lake (Salt Lake City)
\nWashington: King (Seattle)<\/p>\n

What? No Olean? Hello?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple, in a\u00a0path eerily similar to the path that Google took during their first years of on-line\u00a0mapping, has publicly acknowledged that their vans are being used to supplement their Maps data. Google Maps was first rolled out in February of 2005 and \u00a0started their StreetView program in May, 2007 in\u00a0\u00a0only five cities (Denver, Las Vegas, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apple-maps-siri"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t