#AppleMaps #Technology Fail: A Big Warning for Business Owners

Apple’s Maps app has failed of epic proportions, stirring up angry protests across the web and even resulting in politicians publicly calling for fixes.
It isn’t even that the app is ugly or missing important buildings or even cities, some are calling transport errors, including subway station and airport locations, downright dangerous and life threatening.
This isn’t good for Apple and perhaps even signals a new drop in standards, though those who have been following the Custom Toll Free blog will have seen these predictions due to the huge lead and investment Google has made.
You can’t roll out an inferior product and expect consumers not to get upset. On the other hand, it’s clear many would probably be happy to pay good money to stay connected to Google’s maps. This is also yet another point added to the scorecard of Samsung and LG when holiday shoppers hit the stores for new smartphones over the next few months.
It may be a little scary how reliant people have become on these apps, their smartphones, and mobile devices. However, the huge outrage further highlights how critical it is for businesses to be working their mobile marketing strategies and staying on top of their positioning.
Perhaps the one great thing about Apple Maps is the inclusion of Yelp reviews. This will be devastating to some who have neglected customer service and online reputation management but a huge win for others. Although it has already been said a dozen times, we are literally crossing over to a point where unless businesses are easily found on mobile devices they may as well not even exist.

Here are three quick tips for making the best of the situation:

1. Entrepreneurs and business owners should use Google Map Maker to their advantage.
2. New iOS 6 App store navigation changes and saturation could make Android apps deliver a better ROI for entrepreneurs.
3. You can still use Google Maps on your iPhone via the Safari browser.

In defense of the iPhone 5, a new video from Mashable shows it performs better in drop tests than the Galaxy S III. This is a good thing as you might be throwing yours a lot if you try to rely on the maps for getting anywhere!