Apple opens new maps development office in India
A day after announcing an app design and develop accelerator in India's IT capital Bengaluru, Apple inaugurated a new office in Hyderabad focusing on the development of Maps for Apple products.This is the second major announcement that the company has made as part of CEO Tim Cook's maiden visit to the country
Apple has partnered with RMSI, a company that provides software and development expertise for geo-spatial services, for developing its Maps. The new Apple office is expected to generate 4,000 jobs.
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“Apple is focused on making the best products and services in the world and we are thrilled to open this new office in Hyderabad which will focus on Maps development,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The talent here in the local area is incredible and we are looking forward to expanding our relationships and introducing more universities and partners to our platforms as we scale our operations.”
The opening of these two centres in India is part of Apple's new-found emphasis on the Indian market. Apple said it supports 640,000 developer jobs related to iOS across India.
“We are honored Apple chose Hyderabad as a home for its Maps development office,” Telangana Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao said. “This will create thousands of jobs here and is a testament to our proactive approach, quality infrastructure and the excellent talent base we have in the region.”
Launched in 2012, Apple Maps has lagged behind Google Maps in features, but recently improved its service by enabling transit support, 3D views and improving its database of place information about restaurants, shops and landmarks from websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor. However, even basic features like navigation are not available on Apple Maps in India, where Google Maps trumps over Apple's offering with its turn-by-turn navigation, live traffic updates, public transport information and offline mode.
The establishment of the office is expected to improve Apple Maps in India.
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Topics Apple
Sonam Joshi was Mashable's principal correspondent in India. She has previously worked for The Times of India group and Time Out Delhi, and written for The Caravan, Mint Lounge and Yahoo Originals.
