Apple vehicles hit the roads to capture street-level imagery for Apple Maps
- jun
- 10
Apple has joined the likes of Nokia and Google by launching a fleet for vehicles to help with mapping the world. The company is rolling out units in Ireland, the UK and US.
The vehicles in the three regions will capture photographs of the surroundings to make Apple Maps a more accurate solution. We recently covered reports that Apple was looking to collect its own data to rely less on partners, and the new information found on Apple's website confirms said plans.
"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. 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."
Apple is also working on improving Maps in iOS 9, as announced at WWDC. Specifically, the company will be rolling out transit and public transportation coverage in various cities around the world. Collecting street-level imagery using the fleet of vehicles will at least bring Apple up to speed with its competitors.
The website displaying the current timetable for Apple's vehicle fleet is for the latter half of June, commencing June 15. If you'd like to know where the vehicles will be driving around, be sure to check the web page for more details.
