Apple has confirmed plans to use drones or aerial vehicles to help gather extensive information and enhance its much-lambasted Apple Maps service. This development comes right after the US Transportation Department on Wednesday announced
the approval of drone licensing for 10 corporations in the North
American country, including Apple. Other winners of the contract include
ride services company Uber, micro chip maker Intel, delivery company FedEx, and others. Interestingly enough, projects for the world's biggest non-military drone seller, DJI, and Amazon were rejected in the round that saw a total of 149 bids.
The
Cupertino giant said that it has plans to use this testing programme as
an opportunity to better Apple Maps after several failures in the past.
Aerial images are touted, by Apple, as the next hope to save a sinking
ship for its Google Maps competitor. This development comes months after a report suggested
Apple is actively looking to use drones for aerial mapping on Apple
Maps. This is clearly a move to take on its ultra-popular competitor -
Google Maps.
"Apple is committed to protecting people's privacy,
including processing this data to blur faces and license plates prior to
publication," said
the tech giant to Reuters as a response to queries around usage of
drones for Apple Maps. The company also stated that it plans to use the
drone testing programme in North Carolina in order to gather information
for improving Apple Maps.
US
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said that dozens of the unapproved
projects could receive approval in the coming months subject to certain
waivers or compliance to existing rules. She, also, did not rule out
Amazon's project receiving approval citing a rigorous process.
Launched
last year, the new US drone testing initiative puts the country on the
map of countries with standardised drone regulation mechanisms, a sector
where US had been lagging for the past few years.
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Apple Confirms It Is Using Drones to Improve Apple Maps, Says It Will Respect Privacy
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