Apple sacks head of maps

Apple has sacked Richard Williamson, the executive in charge of Apple Maps, following months of embarrassment for the company surrounding the application’s performance.

A report from Bloomberg claimed Williamson was forced out of Apple by senior vice-president of internet software and services, Eddy Cue, citing “people familiar with the move” as its source.

They also said Cue was now in talks with external mapping organisations, including TomTom, on how to fix its maps product, which has been publicly ridiculed for containing false information, getting users lost and not giving public transport information.

Computer Weekly contacted Apple for confirmation of the reports, but it had not returned our request at the time of publication.

Apple made its own map app the default on its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices when it released the iPhone 5 back in October, although it first announced the plan at WWDC in June.

The latest operating system (OS) on the mobile products – iOS 6 – meant users could no longer use Google Maps, widely accepted as the more popular map app and more reliable than Apple’s version.

Google is believed to be working on new map apps to work on iOS 6 devices, with launches imminent.