????九個月前，蘋果公司（Apple ）為iPhone和iPad推出了蘋果地圖。不過，這款產品隨后招致猛烈批評，時至今日，不少人仍對其“念念不忘”。

????在日前的谷歌（Google）I/O大會上，谷歌地圖總監丹尼爾?格拉夫稱：“你們很多人想必都知道，我們于去年12月推出了iPhone版谷歌地圖。這款產品大獲成功。用戶反饋非常好。他們都表示谷歌地圖井然有序、簡潔明快、漂亮大方，當然，數據也非常精確。”

????顯然，格拉夫這番話是在影射蘋果地圖，尤其是蘋果公司停止使用谷歌地圖數據的決定。蘋果地圖的視覺效果確實比較好，但有些用戶抱怨遇到了問題，比如路線不準確、漏掉了地標等，其中有些問題已經得到《財富》雜志（Fortune）的驗證。

????由于問題太多，蒂姆?庫克也不得不出面公開道歉，他甚至還放下面子建議用戶暫時可以改用競爭對手的產品。庫克在致歉信中寫到：“我們對目前造成不便深表歉意，我們正竭盡全力地完善蘋果地圖?！彼?，當谷歌推出獨立的iPhone版谷歌地圖后受到瘋狂追捧也就不足為奇了。谷歌地圖在發布48小時內的下載量高達1,000萬次，一度成為iOS平臺最受歡迎的應用程序。

????蘋果拒絕對此發表評論。不過，最近一次會議上，蘋果公司首席執行官蒂姆?庫克在談到地圖應用時，稱蘋果“搞砸了”。

????市場調研公司高德納（Gartner）研究總監布萊恩?布勞承認：“蘋果地圖的確不好用。”他認為一些人對蘋果地圖的批評合情合理，蘋果公司的確需要完善產品。“不過，這款產品究竟該不該年復一年、日復一日地被大家念叨呢？我想大可不必。”

????據報道，蘋果正在緊鑼密鼓地悄悄改進地圖，招兵買馬就是證據。蘋果在全球至少七個地區招募了“地圖地面實況經理”。根據職位描述，這些人將帶領團隊負責測試新產品的地圖數據、獲取新的地區數據以及評測競爭對手的產品。

????蘋果已對自身地圖產品進行了多次升級，優化了數百個城市標簽的放置位置；它還針對英國、法國、德國等國家，提供了更好的衛星圖片；Flyover的覆蓋范圍也有所擴大，用戶能查看到更多地區的如照片般清晰的3D地圖。此外，行車導航增加了對至少12個國際化大都市的支持，其中包括巴塞羅那、哥本哈根、都柏林和羅馬等。

????Nine months after Apple rolled out a much-criticized update to its Maps app for iPhones and iPads, some people are still not pulling punches.

????"As most of you probably heard, last December, we launched Google Maps on the iPhone," said Daniel Graf, Director of Google Maps, at this year's Google (GOOG) I/O conference. "It has been a tremendous success. The feedback has been very positive. People called it sleek, simple, beautiful, and -- let's not forget -- accurate."

????Graf, of course, was referring to Apple (AAPL) Maps, and in particular, the company's decision to stop using Google's mapping data. The end result may have been easy on the eyes but frustrating to some users who reported problems like inaccurate directions or missing landmarks, some of which were borne out by Fortune's own review.

????The brouhaha became so bad, Tim Cook penned an apology, even going so far as to recommend users temporarily try competitors' services. "We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers, and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better," he wrote. So it was no surprise that when Google eventually released a separate Google Maps app for the iPhone, users downloaded it over 10 million times in the first 48 hours, making it one of the most popular iOS apps for a time.

????Apple declined to comment for this story. However, at a recent conference, CEO Tim Cook addressed Maps, saying that Apple "screwed up."

????"It didn't look good," admits Brian Blau, Research Director for Gartner, who says that some of the criticism lobbed at Apple Maps was justified and that the company needed to make improvements. "But did Maps deserve some of the negative press and negative sentiment that went on, day after day, week after week, and what not? I don't think so."

????Apple is reportedly working hard behind the scenes to improve Maps, beefing up its staff with employees like "Maps Ground Truth Managers" for at least seven regions around the world. According to job listings, such managers would be responsible for supervising the team in charge of testing new releases of map data, capturing new location data, and testing competitors' products.

????The company has also pushed out a number of Maps updates, offering improved placement for hundreds of city labels, better satellite imagery for countries like England, France, and Germany, and expanded "Flyover" coverage, meaning more 3-D, photorealistic areas are viewable. And turn-by-turn navigation has been added for at least 12 international cities including Barcelona, Copenhagen, Dublin, and Rome.