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Map this: Apple in talks to buy Waze for $500M, report says

Apple and social-navigation app maker Waze might soon come to terms on a lucrative deal for the startup.

The iPhone maker is in talks to acquire Waze, TechCrunch is reporting today, citing sources who claim to have knowledge of the negotiations. Those sources say that Waze is looking to net $750 million in the deal, but Apple is so far only willing to offer $400 million in cash and an additional $100 million in earn-outs, based on performance.

Waze is a relatively popular social-navigation app. The service has over 30 million users who share real-time traffic information as they drive … Read more

Google motivates users with New Year's resolutions map

Google is aiming to harness people's motivation to carry out their New Year's resolutions and then use that to help others achieve their goals. Be it lose weight, make more money, learn a new language, or travel more, users can see what people around the world are striving for on Google's new interactive resolution map.

"Research shows that you're more likely to achieve your resolutions if you write them down and have support," Google's Associate Product Marketing Manager Liz Wessel wrote in a blog post yesterday. "Try sharing your goals with communities … Read more

Google Maps parks inside 2014 Kia Sorento

Google Maps is coming to the Kia Sorento in the next few months.

The automaker announced today that the 2014 Kia Sorento, which is slated to hit the road in the first quarter of this year, will come with Google Maps integration, offering full mapping and driving directions from the search giant. In addition, points of interest will be made available from both Google Maps and Google Places.

Google Maps integration is possible via Kia's second-generation UVO telematics system built into Sorento, a midsize crossover SUV. In addition to incorporating Google Maps and Places information, UVO allows people to … Read more

SkyDrive, Google Maps and other iOS app faves of 2012

2012 was another year that kept me glued to my iPhone and iPad, checking out the latest batch of iOS games and other apps. So which ones proved to be among my favorites? In alphabetical order...

Angry Birds Star Wars My wife and I love to play Angry Birds, and the Star Wars edition is a great take on the familiar franchise. This app could've easily taken a turn to the dark side. But Rovio knew just how to pair its birds and piggies with the classic Star Wars characters and settings that fans know and love. The challenging … Read more

Dueling Santa trackers are live

Santa is on the way. As of this writing, according to Google's new Santa Tracker, Kris Kringle and his reindeer are in Canberra, Australia, dishing out gifts and toys to the girls and boys down under faster than you can say, "Paul Hogan's your uncle."

Those lucky Aussies always get everything before the rest of us, whether it's making it through the Mayan apocalypse unscathed or landing some sweet Christmas swag earlier.

But wait, the long-standing NORAD Santa tracker (now powered by Microsoft's Bing maps) is also monitoring the fat man and his flying venison, too. The official U.S. government-sanctioned Santa tracker currently has him over Japan as I write this.… Read more

Google touts 10 tips on how to use its iPhone Maps app

Google Maps users looking to get more out of the app can grab some free advice from Google itself.

A new page dubbed "10 ways to make your Google Maps for iPhone experience even better" reveals several handy features that you may not know existed.

Tip 1: To place a pin on a map, press down and hold any location. The pin reveals the specific address and displays an info sheet with an option to share that location.

Tip 2: To access Street View, press and hold any location on the map and then tap on the info … Read more

Big iOS 6 uptick linked to China launch, instead of Google Maps

The surge in adoption of Apple's iOS 6 may be due more to new users in China than users upgrading to the operating system while grabbing Google's new mapping app.

Adoption of the mobile operating system, which was released months ago, has increased by 30 percent since Google Maps was released to the Apple App Store on December 12, according to data from mobile ad exchange MoPub. iOS users unhappy with the in-house substitute Apple supplied after dumping Google earlier this year flocked to Google's new iOS app, downloading the software more than 10 million times in … Read more

Google puts businesses' interiors inside search results

Google is making it even easier to take a virtual visit to business interiors without leaving home.

Launched in September, Google Business Photos presented Google Maps users with 360-degree panoramas of the inside of businesses, a handy tool for scoping out the interior of a business before going there in person. However, the images were often hard to find.

Starting today, the Web giant began posting the photos to its Web search results page, presenting them along with the business results that appear to the right of requested results. As with the maps product, a simple click on the "… Read more

iOS 6 adoption surges after release of Google Maps app

A surge of people adopted Apple's iOS 6 since last week, but it has been months since the latest operating system was released.

This growth in iOS 6 upgrades may not be as random as it sounds. According to TechCrunch, which got data from mobile ad exchange MoPub, iOS adoption has bumped 30 percent since Google Maps released its app for iOS. MoPub surveys more than 1 billion ad impressions a day across more than 12,000 different apps and got its data from seeing users upgrade to iOS 6.

"We observed since the launch of Google Maps … Read more

Six features you don't want to miss in Android 4.2

Android 4.2 is full of new features, some are fairly minor, such as the Settings shortcut in the notification bar. Other features, such an improved photo editing process, are bound to have a bigger impact on the overall user experience.

Here are five new features you can find in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, with the sixth item being a workaround should you decide against lock-screen widgets.

Developer Options Developer Options is an important settings menu for developers and those who like to fiddle with their Android device. For whatever reason in Android 4.2, Google hid the Developer … Read more