????九個(gè)月前，蘋果公司（Apple ）為iPhone和iPad推出了蘋果地圖。不過，這款產(chǎn)品隨后招致猛烈批評，時(shí)至今日，不少人仍對其“念念不忘”。

????在日前的谷歌（Google）I/O大會上，谷歌地圖總監(jiān)丹尼爾?格拉夫稱：“你們很多人想必都知道，我們于去年12月推出了iPhone版谷歌地圖。這款產(chǎn)品大獲成功。用戶反饋非常好。他們都表示谷歌地圖井然有序、簡潔明快、漂亮大方，當(dāng)然，數(shù)據(jù)也非常精確。”

????顯然，格拉夫這番話是在影射蘋果地圖，尤其是蘋果公司停止使用谷歌地圖數(shù)據(jù)的決定。蘋果地圖的視覺效果確實(shí)比較好，但有些用戶抱怨遇到了問題，比如路線不準(zhǔn)確、漏掉了地標(biāo)等，其中有些問題已經(jīng)得到《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune）的驗(yàn)證。

????由于問題太多，蒂姆?庫克也不得不出面公開道歉，他甚至還放下面子建議用戶暫時(shí)可以改用競爭對手的產(chǎn)品。庫克在致歉信中寫到：“我們對目前造成不便深表歉意，我們正竭盡全力地完善蘋果地圖?！彼裕?dāng)谷歌推出獨(dú)立的iPhone版谷歌地圖后受到瘋狂追捧也就不足為奇了。谷歌地圖在發(fā)布48小時(shí)內(nèi)的下載量高達(dá)1,000萬次，一度成為iOS平臺最受歡迎的應(yīng)用程序。

????蘋果拒絕對此發(fā)表評論。不過，最近一次會議上，蘋果公司首席執(zhí)行官蒂姆?庫克在談到地圖應(yīng)用時(shí)，稱蘋果“搞砸了”。

????市場調(diào)研公司高德納（Gartner）研究總監(jiān)布萊恩?布勞承認(rèn)：“蘋果地圖的確不好用?！彼J(rèn)為一些人對蘋果地圖的批評合情合理，蘋果公司的確需要完善產(chǎn)品?！安贿^，這款產(chǎn)品究竟該不該年復(fù)一年、日復(fù)一日地被大家念叨呢？我想大可不必?！?/p>

????據(jù)報(bào)道，蘋果正在緊鑼密鼓地悄悄改進(jìn)地圖，招兵買馬就是證據(jù)。蘋果在全球至少七個(gè)地區(qū)招募了“地圖地面實(shí)況經(jīng)理”。根據(jù)職位描述，這些人將帶領(lǐng)團(tuán)隊(duì)負(fù)責(zé)測試新產(chǎn)品的地圖數(shù)據(jù)、獲取新的地區(qū)數(shù)據(jù)以及評測競爭對手的產(chǎn)品。

????蘋果已對自身地圖產(chǎn)品進(jìn)行了多次升級，優(yōu)化了數(shù)百個(gè)城市標(biāo)簽的放置位置；它還針對英國、法國、德國等國家，提供了更好的衛(wèi)星圖片；Flyover的覆蓋范圍也有所擴(kuò)大，用戶能查看到更多地區(qū)的如照片般清晰的3D地圖。此外，行車導(dǎo)航增加了對至少12個(gè)國際化大都市的支持，其中包括巴塞羅那、哥本哈根、都柏林和羅馬等。

????Nine months after Apple rolled out a much-criticized update to its Maps app for iPhones and iPads, some people are still not pulling punches.

????"As most of you probably heard, last December, we launched Google Maps on the iPhone," said Daniel Graf, Director of Google Maps, at this year's Google (GOOG) I/O conference. "It has been a tremendous success. The feedback has been very positive. People called it sleek, simple, beautiful, and -- let's not forget -- accurate."

????Graf, of course, was referring to Apple (AAPL) Maps, and in particular, the company's decision to stop using Google's mapping data. The end result may have been easy on the eyes but frustrating to some users who reported problems like inaccurate directions or missing landmarks, some of which were borne out by Fortune's own review.

????The brouhaha became so bad, Tim Cook penned an apology, even going so far as to recommend users temporarily try competitors' services. "We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers, and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better," he wrote. So it was no surprise that when Google eventually released a separate Google Maps app for the iPhone, users downloaded it over 10 million times in the first 48 hours, making it one of the most popular iOS apps for a time.

????Apple declined to comment for this story. However, at a recent conference, CEO Tim Cook addressed Maps, saying that Apple "screwed up."

????"It didn't look good," admits Brian Blau, Research Director for Gartner, who says that some of the criticism lobbed at Apple Maps was justified and that the company needed to make improvements. "But did Maps deserve some of the negative press and negative sentiment that went on, day after day, week after week, and what not? I don't think so."

????Apple is reportedly working hard behind the scenes to improve Maps, beefing up its staff with employees like "Maps Ground Truth Managers" for at least seven regions around the world. According to job listings, such managers would be responsible for supervising the team in charge of testing new releases of map data, capturing new location data, and testing competitors' products.

????The company has also pushed out a number of Maps updates, offering improved placement for hundreds of city labels, better satellite imagery for countries like England, France, and Germany, and expanded "Flyover" coverage, meaning more 3-D, photorealistic areas are viewable. And turn-by-turn navigation has been added for at least 12 international cities including Barcelona, Copenhagen, Dublin, and Rome.