谷歌地图重登苹果应用商店

Apple iPhone users who have been led astray by their devices’ widely panned map software were able to download a refreshed Google Maps application from yesterday, after Google released an app for Apple machines.

从昨日起，苹果(Apple)iPhone用户已能下载一款新版谷歌地图(Google Maps)应用。谷歌此前发布了这款适用于苹果设备的应用程序。苹果iPhone自带的地图应用因常指错路而备受诟玻

Widespread complaints about Apple’s map software led the company to issue a rare apology after its release in September. Soon after, Tim Cook made his first substantial changes to Apple’s executive team since becoming chief executive last year, a reshuffle partly precipitated by the maps debacle.

由于用户对苹果地图怨声载道，苹果公司在今年9月十分罕见地发表了一份致歉声明。不久之后，蒂姆·库克(Tim Cook)对苹果高管团队进行了自去年上任首席执行官以来的首次大规模调整，部分原因正在于苹果地图软件惹来的麻烦。

In a blogpost announcing the launch on iPhone, Daniel Graf, director of Google Maps for Mobile, needled Apple’s shortcomings.

谷歌移动设备地图业务主管丹尼尔·格拉夫(Daniel Graf)在一篇博客文章中宣布谷歌推出了适用于iPhone的地图，这刺到了苹果的痛处。

“At the heart of this app is our constantly improving map of the world that includes detailed information for more than 80m businesses and points of interest, he wrote.

格拉夫写道：“这款应用集中体现了我们对世界地图的不断完善。我们的地图中包含逾8000万个商家和有用地点的详细信息。

In the latest problem for Apple’s map service, Australian police in Victoria this week warned motorists not to rely on the app after it led a number of “distressed motorists to a remote national park instead of a city 70km away.

针对苹果地图服务引起的最新麻烦，澳大利亚维多利亚州警方本周警告驾车者，不要依赖苹果地图服务指路。苹果地图把一座城市的位置标在一座国家公园中央，而实际上该市距离该国家公园70公里。多名原本要去那座城市的驾驶员被苹果地图服务带到位置偏僻国家公园里，“狼狈不堪。

Apple had bundled the more seasoned Google Maps app with iPhones and iPads since the devices’ initial introduction. But it replaced the service with its own software on the latest version of its iOS operating system, which debuted with the launch of the iPhone 5.

自iPhone和iPad上市那一天起，苹果一直在设备上捆绑安装更成熟的谷歌地图。但在推出最新版的iOS操作系统时，苹果用自己的地图软件取代了谷歌地图。iPhone5安装的就是最新版的iOS操作系统。

In a recent interview, Mr Cook denied that the ousting of Google Maps from iOS 6 was a strategic move against a company which, through Android, has become its main rival in smartphone software.

在最近接受采访时，库克否认在iOS 6中去掉谷歌地图是针对谷歌的战略性打击措施。借助Android系统，谷歌已成为苹果在智能手机软件领域的主要竞争对手。

He told Bloomberg Business Week that Apple “had a list of things that we thought would be a great customer experience, and we couldn’t do it any other way than to do it ourselves.

库克对《彭博商业周刊》(Bloomberg Business Week)表示，“苹果有很多我们认为用户体验绝佳的东西，而这些东西如果不是我们自己做，不会有这么好的效果。

But Mr Cook admitted that Apple Maps “didn’t live up to our expectations, adding: “We screwed up.

但库克承认，苹果地图“没有达到我们的预期，并补充说，“我们搞砸了。

Google executives had been coy about whether they would make Google Maps available as a separately downloadable app for iPhones and iPads in the Apple Store. Some analysts had questioned whether Apple would allow a competing app into its tightly controlled App Store from its arch-rival.

此前，对于是否将在苹果商店(Apple Store)里提供可单独下载的用于iPhone或iPad的谷歌地图，谷歌高管一直不愿对此明确表态。有些分析师曾质疑，苹果是否会允许来自主要对手的一款与自己存在竞争关系的应用出现在自己严密控制的应用商店之中。

Yet it appears that Google Maps was approved by Apple without delay.

然而，苹果似乎很快就批准了谷歌地图应用上架。

Some staff in Apple’s own retail stores have even been heard to flag the forthcoming Google app to hesitant iPhone customers, in recognition of the central role that navigation has come to play in consumers’ smartphone choices.

据悉，有些苹果自营零售店的员工甚至以即将上架的谷歌地图应用为卖点，说服犹豫不决的顾客购买iPhone，因为他们意识到，导航功能是顾客选择智能手机时考虑的重要因素。

The original Google Maps app for iPhone had been designed by Apple. Google said its new app featured a refreshed user interface and 2D and 3D “tilting views – also a feature of Apple’s software.

最初的iPhone谷歌地图应用是由苹果设计的。谷歌表示，此新款地图应用的特色是新的用户界面，以及2D和3D的“倾斜视图——而这也是苹果软件的一项特色。