Mapping apps are cheap and easy. There's even a nifty open source mapping app from NASA called WorldWind -- looks and acts a lot like Google Earth.
Data is what makes mapping apps different/useful. Google and Microsoft have huge capabilities for gathering and publishing data -- Examples: StreetView (GOOG), Birdseye view (MSFT). Both companies have 3D modeling, image draping, terrain modeling and a lot more. MSFT even owns the Vexcel aerial scanner platform and spends millions collecting hi-res images. Google has core technology from Keyhole that lets them stitch together spatial data into seamless landscapes.
Both companies spend millions on satellite imagery from different sources. Both companies have developed sophisticated tools for searching and using spatial data (Photosynth, MSFT; Google Goggles)
Google has figured out how to crowdsource new data that keeps their maps current. That capability has the potential to turn the whole mapping business on its ear.
Buying a couple of third-tier mapping apps isn't going to help Apple a lot, even with Saint Jobs telling everyone that Apple's stuff is "wonderful".
So far, Apple doesn't show any smarts about acquiring and managing geospatial data. They have a very, very long way to go before they can even show up in the same room as GOOG or MSFT in this area.
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