Twitter user shao posted an interesting series of tweets relating to RSA security and ETC 2.0.
In case you didn’t notice, or don’t drive much, the wireless Japanese Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system has gotten a big upgrade to ETC 2.0 these past few years. The enhanced ITS SPOT antenna network using DSRC (Dedicated short-range communications) 5.8GHz band for ETC 2.0 duplex communication has been in place on the ground since 2011 but it wasn’t until 2015 when ETC 2.0 ready car navigation systems began delivering ETC 2.0 services to drivers. Unfortunately ETC 2.0 still only represents 25% of the user base though ETC 2.0 navigation systems are due to be ‘standard equipment’ from the 2021 car model year.
Shao pointed out that ETC 2.0 got a security update in 2018 with older less secure ETC 2.0 card readers ‘good until 2030’ unless a security threat forces a quicker update. Unfortunately it is not easy to tell the difference between newer devices with the security update and older potentially less secure devices. He also notes that Suica uses RSA which is another good reason for JR East to upgrade everything to the newer more secure FeliCa OS version based Super Suica format. With all that hardware out there that can’t be upgraded sometimes you have to pull the trigger and pull the plug on compatibility in favor of the new.
ETC 2.0 readers on the left have the latest RSA security enhancements and are hard to tell apart from older less secure units
One central ETC 2.0 feature is the ability to connect with smartphones and deliver much more detailed traffic and road information but so far there are very few options out there. The only stand alone unit I could find was the Denso ETC 2.0 reader + Android App product that went off the market in 2020 with no replacement. ETC 2.0 integration for Google Maps and Apple Maps would be great to have but looks unlikely. Dedicated car navi systems are the best, and only, way to enjoy the benefits of enhanced ETC 2.0 content.
Apple Maps vans and walkers were busy in Japan from May to October 2020 and the first cites to receive Look Around from the data sets are: Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Takamatsu. This is not part of the Apple Maps 2.0 ‘New Maps’ cartography that has rolled out in USA, Canada and UK, just the same lousy IPC map data with a Look Around cherry on top. According to Justin O’Beirn these were added in mid-December.
In addition to new areas he lists, the Look Around Tokyo area region has been extended deeper into the greater Kanto area with more Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa coverage, though I don’t see any pedestrian data gains in areas that need it (major shrines, temples, parks, and other public areas off limits to vehicles). In the Kansai area, southern parts of Osaka and Nara have been added as well.
At this rate we should have Look Around additions for Sendai, Ishikawa, more Kanto and other regions coming soon. Apple Maps Look Around first appeared in August 2020 for Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka regions from data collected in 2019.
Google Maps Japan has offered crowdedness transit information since June. The latest app version is expanding this feature:
If you need to take transit, Google Maps can help you more easily social distance with live crowdedness information. On Android and iOS globally, you’ll start seeing how crowded your bus, train, or subway line is right now based on real-time feedback from Google Maps users around the world (wherever data is available).
Crowdedness is missing altogether in Apple Maps Japan transit, not surprising as Apple is very slow adding new features and transit only just got around to adding train platform numbers. Google Maps crowdedness information is a welcome feature but be wary about the ‘real-time’ label with the ‘wherever data is available’ sticker.
As the announcement explains, crowdedness data is ‘real-time feedback’. In Japan the feedback is solicited in the app: ‘how crowded is your train’. This is a completely subjective observation and depends on whatever the person making said feedback thinks and feels. Manual feedback may not the only measure, but it is time and train specific beyond the capability of GPS and carries the most weight.
Google Maps train crowdedness feedback
Look carefully and you can see the gaps between generalized Google crowdedness feedback data and fine grained JR East supplied data.
JR East provides crowdedness information collected from train and station cameras that they plug into the JR East app. They also supply this to Google Maps, Yahoo Japan Maps and other map services. Detail level depends on the line: Yamanote line train cameras and sensors provide car by car crowdedness and much more while Chuo line trains sensors only summarize the entire train.
The gap between Google Map feedback and JR East crowdedness data sets can be seen in Google Maps transit directions. JR East supplied data is highlighted in red text labeled ‘live’, Google feedback data is not. In the above screenshot Google Maps feedback lists the Yamanote train as crowded, JR East data does not. The take away: use transit agency data when available, after a few months of using it I find Google Maps feedback crowdedness data is, at best, subjective.
Look Around is available in the greater Tokyo Kanto, Osaka Kansai and Nagoya areas in purple.. Green areas indicate Apple Maps 2.0 data updates nationwide
Apple flipped the switch for Apple Maps Japan ‘improved maps’ with Look Around for Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, and new map details nationwide. Initial navigation tests indicate turn by turn incorporates the new date for better directions. Siri also seems to have gained improved guidance with finer details: turn left, walk over the bridge, etc. Taken altogether, improved maps, improved Siri guidance, the new higher quality Japanese Siri voices and other Siri improvements will make iOS 14 a nice upgrade.
Tokyo area parks like Shinjuku Gyoen and Yoyogi are packed with new Apple Maps 2.0 details. A quick examination reveals Look Around is pretty much limited to roadside views. Major pedestrian data collection efforts are still ongoing across Japan through October and will be very important in rounding out both the feature set and improving navigation in later updates.
The Tokyo Olympics Update The Apple Maps team worked to get this major update ready in time for the, now postponed, Tokyo Olympics. It’s great that Apple Maps Japan users can enjoy the benefits of the effort and the fact Japan is the first country outside of the USA to get Look Around and Apple Maps 2.0 improved map data.
Look Around in Shinjuku
New map detail of Shinjuku Gyoen park area
Look Around at Harajuku Station
New map details and Look Around in Tokyo Yoyogi Park
New map details in a Nagoya area park
Major first time pedestrian data collection work is ongoing through October 2020
Look Around Impressions and Reactions The Japanese online reaction to Look Around has been largely positive. People seem impressed with the quality, the level of detail and the ease of use compared with Google Maps Japan Street View. The biggest complaints are, ‘I want it in my area too’, a good complaint to have, and ‘this street data is already out of date’, which is not. Things move quickly in Tokyo, the Look Around imagery is from spring~summer 2019 and people already notice the age.
Tokyo in particular has a lot of rebuilding going on in residential areas. I don’t know if this is because of the Olympics or cheap interest rates, but everywhere I see yet another building with scaffolding going up around it for demolition or makeover. Keeping Look Around up to date in Tokyo will be a challenge.
While main streets are covered well, the vast maze of Tokyo side streets have yet to be mapped and pedestrian maps are missing altogether for public areas like parks, shrines and temples all of which Google Street Maps comprehensively covers. Use Look Around on iPhone for a bit and you soon feel the ‘you can’t go there’ haptic feedback bump. Look Around Tokyo is off to a good start but has a long way to go.
And I still see evidence of long standing Apple Maps Japan data problems, in particular the weak Increment P supplied data. Even with all the great new image collection, ground truth checks will be a problem: it can’t be done with AI or from a car, and Increment P simply does’t have the quality manpower to do it.
This is where Zenrin would be a huge help, as they field a ground truth human team with no equal. Having Zenrin on board instead of Increment P would really truly make Apple Maps Japan, the dope choice.
People complain about mislabeled places in Look Around
Pedestrian data collection and ground truth checks would fix this navigation error
Keeping Look Around up to date in Tokyo will be a challenge: the house on the right is long gone
The same view in August 2020
Wide swathes of Tokyo neighborhoods are missing Look Around indicated by white roads without the light blue overlay
Public areas like parks, temple and shrines are also missing from Look Around
Apple Maps Japan 2.0: New Improved Maps is not new Apple Maps Japan 2.0 is a tossup. Look Around is off to a good start but limited, and people complain about mislabeled places from poor quality 3rd party data suppliers which drags down Look Around quality. The more you use it the less it looks or feels like a comprehensive update. Justin O’Beirne posted a before and after collection of Apple Maps Japan screen shots.
As a former member of the Apple Maps cartography team, O’Beirne has helpful insights into the differences between the Apple collected and created ‘Improved Map’ cartography 2.0 update rolled out in the USA. His conclusion is that all of the new details are from Japanese map data supplier Increment P (IPC), not Apple image collection vans. This update is not a true Apple Maps 2.0 update. This is correct but not the whole story.
As I have pointed out in many posts over the years, and as an Apple Maps team member admitted to me, there were two basic long standing problems:
Despite being a subsidiary of Pioneer, the P in Increment P, IPC data has never been a strong 1st tier quality map data supplier like Zenrin. Japanese users have complained that IPC takes years to update road and train station information. The further out from metropolitan areas, the weaker IPC map data becomes. This is something Apple can only fix by using a new supplier which they have not done.
Apple only used a subset of IPC map data mixed with OpenStreet map data. For years IPC pushed Apple to integrate all available IPC supplied data more effectively, it seems they finally worked things out and did this.
The Apple Maps Great Shibu Hot Springs Data Cutoff from 2017
The Apple Maps Great Shibu Hot Springs Data Cutoff was actually a problem with IPC map data that took years to fix.
Google Maps JP is not immune either, users complain about the recent decline in quality and updates since Google dropped Zenrin
Apple Maps Japan 2.0 Summary The Apple Maps Japan update consists of: (1) the Apple created Look Around and, (2) finally incorporates the full set of IPC map data that Apple should have been using all along. Even though the map data and cartography is not Apple collected, they consider this a full blown ‘Improved Map’ update:
iOS 14 Maps ‘New Features’ splash screen
Look Around and a map refresh add up to a big update for Apple Maps Japan but it’s really just a new starting point. Apple image collection vans and walkers can only do so much and are hamstrung by the weak points of the Apple Maps team itself, in particular the poor integration of local data suppliers.
What is Apple aiming for in the long run? To equal or better Google Maps Japan and Yahoo Maps Japan? Or just be a better me-too map? Time will tell but the seven year 2012~2019 run suggests the latter. The Apple Maps Japan makeover challenge is just beginning.
Apple Maps Japan can’t catch a break. Traffic has been available since September 2019 but only got listed on the feature availability page last week, June 2020. Handa International Airport is currently listed for indoor maps but the data isn’t there. And so it goes for the Apple Maps 2.0 reboot. Here is a quick list of missing features along with some new feature requests.
Missing Pieces
There are several iOS 13 Apple Maps features that have not made it to Japan:
Apple Maps 2.0 and Look Around (Updated) New maps were rolled out in America in January 2020 with Europe slated next. A rollout for Japan has not been announced but Apple Maps vans and walkers are in the field working on it. Justin O’Beirne posted screenshots of Apple Maps’ cartography evolution from 2013~2019. The basic design language for urban areas hasn’t really changed the entire time. Cartography for Japanese urban areas is already drowning in detail and screams for an overhaul to make it intelligent and easy to use: a more unified cartography that does a better job of incorporating transit instead of useless separate ‘views’.
More accurate detail is always welcome but I don’t think Apple can ever get the whole picture by themselves especially with the 2nd rate Japanese map data supplier they currently use. Google Maps real genius is it’s deft ability to synthesize disparate data suppliers in a seamlessly whole service. Apple Maps biggest single failure, from day one to today, is it’s utter inability to synthesize various data suppliers into a solid service.
It’s a chunky clunky Japanese product, from eternally 2nd rate map data from Increment P (IPC) on down to 3rd rate Foursquare JP. Top Japanese map data supplier Zenrin is the logical choice especially since Google dropped them, but Apple doesn’t seem inclined to switch, nor could they intelligently integrate it.
August 2020 UPDATE Apple Maps updated Japan maps with Look Around for the greater Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya areas, and a full set of IPC data which has been available all these years, but Apple didn’t, or couldn’t, integrate it for some reason until now. Whether Apple call this ‘new maps’ or not isn’t clear. And at any rate it is not Apple collected map data.
Real-time Transit Another no-brainer transit feature for Japan, but Japan is a low priority and the transit system is complex. There are plenty of transit data suppliers but given Apple Maps limited ability to integrate different transit data sets, I think it will be a long time before we see the addition of real-time transit in Japan, if ever.
There are small tweaks Apple could make to transit directions that would make them much more useful such as transfer station platform numbers and crowd conditions, features that Google and Yahoo Japan have offered for a long time.
Junction View Navigating complicated elevated expressways in urban areas isn’t just in mainland China, it’s been a fact of Japanese urban driving since the 1960s’. Junction View like navigation has been standard in Japanese navigation systems for a long time, it should be standard in Apple Maps too.
Adaptive transit times: car and walk navigation is adaptive: if you take a different road the navigation route updates automatically. Transit directions need to be adaptive too.
Crowding information: Yahoo Japan offers crowd heat maps for locations, both Yahoo Japan and Google Japan maps offer rudimentary transit crowd information. In the COVID era crowd information for transit and locations is a must have feature.
Improved Apple Watch transit integration: Apple Watch turn by turn navigation integration with iPhone is excellent but transit integration is weak and passive. The current iOS 13/watchOS 6 version ‘sits on the wrist’ without alerts, haptic feedback or much interaction, and it’s brain dead after switching to another watch app.
Indoor/Underground Station Maps: Last but not least real indoor maps for vital station hubs covering Tokyo, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Osaka, Namba, etc.
Offline navigation: Apple Maps turn by turn won’t be completely reliable unless it navigates in expressway tunnels instead of dying.
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