Continuing its strategy of de-Googleing, Apple has recently announced the launch of its own Street View service. There have also been multiple reports of Apple Street View cameras being spotted in places like San Francisco and New York, suggesting the service may appear in subsequent updates to the iOS or OS X operating systems.
Recent sightings indicate that Apple has begun using vehicles similar to Google Maps' Street View cars to capture images in places like San Francisco and New York. These vehicles, with their all-white exteriors and roof-mounted cameras, appear to be a potential step towards launching their own Street View map service. However, Apple has yet to comment on this, suggesting the data collected could be used for other services.
In recent years, Apple has been pursuing a de-Google strategy to reduce its reliance on Google for development. This includes replacing Google services with its own apps within iOS, or requiring pre-installed content (such as the YouTube app) to be downloaded separately. The subsequent Apple Maps service, in addition to being available on the iOS platform, is now also built into the OS X operating system.
It is currently unclear what the specific specifications and configuration details of the Street View car used by Apple are. Judging from the existing exposed images, the equipment used by the vehicles used for shooting seems to be significantly different from those used by Google Street View or Nokia HERE map services.
