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Apple: Some Maps fixes out already, more this year

Apple says it's already made a number of fixes and improvements to its error-ridden Maps software, and has "more improvements" coming throughout 2013.

Josh Lowensohn Former Senior Writer
Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
Josh Lowensohn

Apple offered some minor details on how it's beefing up its troubled Maps app, which became a running joke last year for misplacing landmarks, skewing landscapes and misleading travelers.

"We've made a number of improvements to Maps," Apple CEO Tim Cook told Wall Street analysts during the company's first quarter earnings call this afternoon. Some of those include improved satellite and flyover imagery as well as local information for businesses, he said.

Cook said that people are using Maps "significantly" more than they were before iOS 6, which added Apple's controversial mapping software and replaced Google. Nonetheless, there's room for improvement, Cook admitted. He said "we'll keep on working on this" and added that the company planned to "roll out more improvements during the rest of the year."

Cook publicly apologized for the software's shortcomings last September, roughly a week after it was released to consumers, saying "we are extremely sorry for the frustration" it caused. Some of those frustrations include missing or inaccurate locations, low quality satellite imagery in densely populated areas, and cosmetic issues with its 3D flyover feature.