There is an awful lot of excitement about the release of the iPhone 5, especially since it is more than just a rumor that people are whispering about and is now actually something that people will be able to put their hands on come September 21. 

Of course, despite all the good things we have heard about Apple’s (News - Alert) newest smartphone, there are still a couple of negatives. One of the biggest changes the iPhone 5 will incorporate will be getting rid of Google Maps, turning instead to TomTom (News - Alert) to create a brand new turn-by-turn mapping system for the iOS. Some industry analysts have started wondering whether this will be positive.


Image via www.tomtom.com

One blogger who is intimately familiar with Apple and their products has been messing around with the gold version of iOS 6 and says that the mapping software has gotten significantly worse with this new addition. Josh Carr is a former writer for the Apple-centric blog TUAW and he has said that using the TomTom maps, at least for now, is a pretty big step back from Google (News - Alert) Maps. 

Among the ways in which Apple has actually stepped back the mapping software is that the search function just isn’t as good as it once was. The latest version of maps that used Google was able to take advantage of their search database. The new version of maps uses a Yelp (News - Alert) database that simply isn’t as extensive. The new maps also don’t include a public transit set of directions, which is one of the latest additions to Google Maps. It appears there will be third party apps that can help here, but it won’t be the same as having that contained in the maps application itself. Apple seems to have made quite a few changes to the newest iPhone and iOS that will make it quite a bit different from what we have seen before, right down to their adapter. Whether that turns out to be a positive in the long run is very much in doubt.

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