Apple’s iOS 6 Maps Application Detailed - 3D Street View

Thanks to the acquisition of three companies specializing in mapping technologies, Apple can finally unleash its proprietary Maps application in iOS 6, trusted sources have revealed.

Speaking to the people at 9to5mac, a reliable source in and of itself, these sources said the application design is fairly similar to the current Google Maps app running on all iPhones and iPads in iOS 5.

Apple’s Maps, however, is described as “a much cleaner, faster, and more reliable experience.”

The service is the brainchild of three mapping companies strategically acquired by Apple with intentions to ditch Google’s mapping service. Apple’s will not only be proprietary, and therefore more reliable with respect to iOS, but it will also have 3D capabilities. Buckle up!

Of the three companies acquired by Apple with this purpose - Placebase, C3 Technologies, and Poly9 - one in particular has allowed Apple to design a 3D database much like Google’s street view, only more realistic (examples in the photo above, and the video embedded below).

Before moving its IPs over to Apple Inc., C3 Technologies described its 3D street view capability as follows:

C3 Technologies is the leading provider of 3D mapping solutions, offering photo-realistic models of the world for search, navigation and geographic information systems. Since 2007 when it was spun out of the aerospace and defense company Saab AB, venture-backed C3 has redefined mapping by applying previously classified image processing technology to the development of 3D maps as a platform for new social and commercial applications. The Sweden-based company’s automated software and advanced algorithms enable C3 to rapidly assemble extremely precise 3D models, and seamlessly integrate them with traditional 2D maps, satellite images, street level photography and user generated images, that together are forever changing how people use maps and explore the world.

The 3D mode reportedly doesn’t come enabled by default, but users can switch it on thanks to a handy 3D button in the app.

iOS 6 is set to be showcased at Apple’s annual developer-centric event in June, and perhaps even released to developers as a preview (beta).