After a small start in 2018 limited to parts of Tokyo and Chiba, Apple has greatly expanded their map data image collection efforts in Japan. It’s a much more ramped up and detailed data sweep covering both major metropolitan and surrounding rural areas in Honshu. Areas on target for image collection from April to October this year include: Greater Kanto (Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, Ibaragi, Kanagawa), Greater Tokai (Aichi/Nagoya, Mie) and Greater Kansai (Kyoto, Shiga, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara). It’s a lot of ground to cover in 6 months and I hope the Apple Maps team can keep this level of commitment for mapping the rest of Japan.
The Apple Maps reboot has yet to make any difference in Japan, even with the recent addition of indoor maps, but Apple does have a chance now that Google Maps has stumbled badly here since dropping top Japanese map supplier Zenrin. More image collection is a good start but will never be enough. I have said it before and say it again, Apple cannot up their Japan product with current 3rd rate map supplier Increment P, they need to sign Zenrin. Nobody’s artificial intelligence algorithms, not Google’s and certainly not Apple’s, can match the quality of 1,000 Zenrin ground checkers.
UPDATE
Related coverage on the WWDC19 Apple Maps Wish List
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