Saturday, November 3, 2012

Apple’s New OS: Will Mobile Users Miss Google Maps?

Apple’s new mobile operating system and updated personal computer OS revealed Wednesday do a better job of� integrating� Facebook (FB), whose shares are off 34 cents, or 1.46%, to $22.95 in pre-market trading.

Facebook got a nice pop Wednesday, up $1.42, or 6.4%,to $23.29. Shares of Apple (AAPL) were down $2.35, or 0.32%, to $699.84 pre-market.

The OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2 is a significant update for Apple computers.

The new mobile software is compatible with the iPhone 3S, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, the iPad 2, the new iPad and newer iPod Touches.

The abrupt disappearance of mobile maps from� Google (GOOG) is a downside. As Walt Mossberg noted in a review Wednesday night, the Apple map app lacks public transit routing and lacks ground-level photos of the street. On the plus side, it brags of 3D mapping and turn-by-turn directions.� For those who love to read flat maps, even on a small screen, the wonders of multiple dimensions may be muted. So far, critics say street-level data is not as plentiful – and presumably that’s commentary from people looking at big cities in the United States.

The new desktop software has a number of changes and a long list of fixes, and CNET’s Josh Lowensohn points out that 10.8.2 may improve battery life (one example: power naps for MacBook Air.)

For insights on some of the iOS 6 features for mobile users, read more from�Katherine Boehret, who has been testing the iPhone5 and iOS 6 over atWSJ’s All Things D.

User experiences with the new operating systems welcome in comments!

No comments:

Post a Comment