谷歌地图携更多功能回归iPhone

Google Inc.'s new mapping app quickly became the most downloaded free application for the iPhone, the latest evidence of consumer eagerness for an alternative to Apple Inc.'s own ill-starred software.

谷歌(Google Inc.)新推出的地图应用程序Google Maps迅速成为下载次数最多的iPhone免费应用程序。这一现象再次表明，消费者渴望有其他选择来替代苹果公司(Apple Inc.)自主研发的问题颇多的地图程序。

The response to the new Google Maps, released late Wednesday, ratchets up the pressure on Apple to keep improving the internally developed app it released in September. The app replaced an Apple-built app powered by Google data preinstalled on prior versions of the iPhone.

用户对周三晚上发布的谷歌新地图应用程序的反应令苹果面临更大压力，后者必须继续改进其今年9月发布的自主研发的地图应用程序。新苹果地图取代了此前预装在iPhone手机内由谷歌数据支持的、苹果打造的地图程序。

Some industry watchers say the Google Maps app is good news for Apple, since attractive apps help sell more iPhones. Apple built its own mapping software because Google was withholding features it offered on versions for its Android operating system, such as turn-by-turn driving directions, people familiar with the matter have said. Google believed that some of Apple's terms were unfair, but Apple didn't want the iPhone app to fall behind.

一些业内观察人士说，谷歌地图应用程序对苹果来说是个好消息，因为有吸引力的应用程序能够促进iPhone的销量。据知情人士透露，苹果打造其自己的地图程序是因为谷歌对苹果保留了部分功能，比如带弯道转向提示的行车路线指引(turn-by-turn driving direction)，而谷歌在其安卓(Android)操作系统上的地图应用程序则提供了这些功能。谷歌认为苹果的部分条款不公平，但苹果则不希望其iPhone应用程序落后。

By developing its own software, Apple appears to have encouraged the development of new features for iPhone users.

通过开发自己的软件，苹果似乎成功鼓励开发者为iPhone用户研发新功能。

'The irony is that Apple had to kick Google off to get a better app,' said Greg Sterling, a senior analyst at Opus Research. 'It benefits [Apple].'

研究机构Opus Research的高级分析师斯特林(Greg Sterling)说，具有讽刺意味的是，苹果不得不先把谷歌踢开，才能获得一款更好的应用程序，这对苹果有利。

While Google's new app will be popular, usage of Apple Maps also will remain high because it is preinstalled on iPhones and it has an appealing design, the analyst added.

斯特林又说，虽然谷歌的新应用程序将受到欢迎，但苹果地图还是会保持较高的使用率，因为它预装在iPhone手机上，且有非常吸引人的设计。

A Google spokeswoman declined to comment on the development of the new mapping tool.

谷歌一位发言人拒绝对其新地图应用程序的研发置评。

Google's new iPhone app includes features found in the Android version such as turn-by-turn navigation. The app also includes schedules for more than one million public transportation stops around the world, helping to generate step by step instructions for bus, train and subway trips.

谷歌此次推出的iPhone新地图应用程序包括了安卓版本蕴含的多项功能，比如带弯道转向提示的导航功能。这款地图程序同时包括全球超过100万个公共交通枢纽的时刻表，可以向用户提供乘坐巴士、火车和地铁的分步指示。

Apple Maps doesn't provide public transit data within the app. Instead it sends people to other apps, including the new Google App.

苹果地图没有内置公共交通数据。这导致用户转向其它应用程序，其中包括谷歌新地图应用程序。

Complaints about the Apple mapping tool began almost immediately after it became available, as part of the new iOS 6 operating system that arrived with the iPhone 5. After Apple released the app publicly in the fall, CEO Tim Cook apologized for the quality of the service and an executive responsible for it was pushed out of the company.

用户对苹果地图的抱怨几乎在其一经推出后就开始了。苹果地图是iPhone 5搭载的新iOS 6操作系统的组成部分。今年秋天苹果面向大众发布地图程序之后，其首席执行长(CEO)库克(Tim Cook)为苹果地图的糟糕质量向用户道歉，一位负责开发苹果地图的高管被扫地出门。

'I've been using it since launch and yes, at the beginning I had instances where I ended up where I wasn't hoping to end up,' said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. 'You hear more bad stories than good.'

Gartner分析师米拉内西(Carolina Milanesi)说：自苹果地图推出后我就一直在使用。是的，一开始曾多次发生最终目的地并非我所预期的情况。你听到的负面消息肯定多过正面消息。

Ms. Milanesi says the performance of Apple's maps has improved, though, and she expects that the gadget maker won't cede the maps battlefield to its rival. 'It is too important going forward,' she said.

但米拉内西说，苹果地图的表现随后有所改善，她预计苹果不会放弃地图程序这一“战场。她说，未来这一领域将十分重要。