El próximo miércoles 6 de junio Google ha convocado a una reunión para informarnos sobreel futuro de Google Maps, dando un salto a lo que ellos llaman  «la siguiente dimensión» a la que pasará esta herramienta.

Curiosamente, parecen haberse adelantado a la reunión programada por Apple para el 11 de junio, donde la empresa de la manzana podría mostrar su aplicación iOS Maps que intenta darle pelea al Google Maps.

Un detalle que es llamativo, es que si quieres instalar Google Earth en un iPad, aunque está disponible en iTunes gratuitamente, desde América Latina no lo podemos instalar. Esto ocurre con muchas aplicaciones y es una verdadera injusticia. Debemos hacerle jail break para instalar el paquete corriendo nuestro riesgo.

Google is hosting an event next week to share the future of Google Maps. Image: Google

This Friday, Google invited journalists to a June 6 event where it will unveil the future of Google Maps. It’s curious timing considering that just a few days later on June 11, Apple is expected to unveil the future of its iOS Maps app — an app that’s rumored to ditch Google Maps as its data engine.

Apple’s event, its Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, has been on the calendar for ages. Could Google be responding to buzz about Apple’s new mapping strategy by sliding in a mapping announcement of its own, right before Apple’s grand reveal?

The timing of Google’s June 6 press event does seem a bit strange, especially considering the company’s own yearly developer mega-event, Google I/O, is less than a month away. Charles Golvin, a Forrester analyst, says the timing of the Google Maps event — right before WWDC and broken out from I/O — could reasonably be interpreted as a move to steal a bit of Apple’s thunder, especially if Apple does actually dump Google Maps.

Nonetheless, Google can’t act merely on spite. With a room full of press, Google will have to show off something impressive, he says.

“It’s likely that the relative timing between all these events has a role here, but Google wouldn’t just have this event to rub Apple’s nose in something, and they wouldn’t have a Google Maps-specific event if they didn’t have some big news to share,” Golvin said. “And they might not want to risk whatever they’re going to announce being lost in the flood of news that will come out of Google I/O.”

While neither Apple nor Google have made any announcements regarding Google Maps’ future in iOS, it’s only a matter of time before the two companies split their mapping ways, Golvin said.

“It’s reasonable to expect that all the pieces of Google in the iPhone would diminish over time, especially as Android continues to grow, and Apple and Google grow as rivals,” Golvin said. “But even so, Google Maps is a powerful product by itself. With the presence of Google Maps on every Android device, even if Google Maps loses its presence on Apple’s iPhone and iPad, it will still be the most popular map app on mobile devices and on the web.”