Apple to drop Google Maps from iOS 6: report

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple will drop Google Maps from its upcoming mobile platform iOS 6 in favor of its own mapping system, it was reported on Friday.

The application design is said to be fairly similar to the current Google Maps program on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, but it is described as a much cleaner, faster and more reliable experience, said technology news website 9to5mac, citing its trusted sources.

Over the last few years, Apple has been acquiring mapping companies like Placebase, C3 Technologies and Poly9. The acquisitions enable Apple to create a complete mapping database of its own instead of relying on Google's solutions.

The most important aspect of the new Apple Maps application, according to the report, is a powerful 3D mode, which is technology straight from C3 Technologies, a Swedish company Apple bought last year.

Apple has been gradually pushing Google Maps away. Last week, Apple acknowledged that its iOS iPhoto app, a photo-sorting tool for the iPad and iPhone, had switched from Google Maps data to OpenStreetMap data since March. The app uses mapping data to display the shoot location of geotagged photos.

Apple is scheduled to hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco from June 11 to 15. The key announcement at this year's conference is expected to be iOS 6, the sixth generation of its mobile operating system.