Click on the maps icon in Apple's newest iPhone software and you'll see evidence of something much bigger. Gone are the familiar Google Maps, replaced with Apple's own 3D, voice-guided navigation software.
Editor Dylan Tweney of VentureBeat says Apple didn't do this for fun. "There's enough friction between Apple and Google that Apple felt like it had to go out and map the entire world so they wouldn't be dependent on one of their biggest competitors," he said.
Another competitor, Samsung, is also getting the cold shoulder. As the two companies enter a second patent lawsuit, some blogs report that unlike previous iPhones, Apple's newest one won't use Samsung memory chips.
Is Apple making enemies? "You know, Apple's not really in this business to make friends," said Tweney. "They're in this business to make money."
Another possible example is Apple's YouTube app. It's been there since the very first iPhone and will disappear with the next update. YouTube is owned by Google. But the word at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno is it was a mutual decision to get rid of the old TV icon so YouTube could launch its own iPhone app on the App Store with a lot of features that Android users have already had for years.
Lady Gaga is finally available on your iPhone. Her videos were notoriously blocked for iPhone users because the iPhone couldn't display videos that have commercials in front of them.
"In fact, we've unlocked like tens of thousands of videos that were previously blocked," said YouTube's mobile product manager Andre Doronichev, who demoed the new app, which shows video full screen when the phone's on its side or lets you share and comment while you watch if the phone's right-side up. "Users on YouTube basically have a pretty short attention span. They like doing stuff while the video's playing."
It's already in the App Store, but there's no iPad version yet. YouTube says that will launch in the next few months.
