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ExtraBITS for 27 June 2016

In ExtraBITS this week, we get a comparison of Apple Maps and Google Maps, a look into what Apple’s Advanced Computer Vision can identify, and news that Bank of America is rolling out Apple Pay-compatible ATMs.

Cartographic Comparison of Apple Maps and Google Maps — Maps are but representations of reality, and how Apple and Google have interpreted that reality has led to surprisingly different representations of it. Former Apple cartographer Justin O’Beirne has started a detailed comparison of the two mapping systems, looking at how each shows cities, roads, and places (points of interest, if you will). O’Beirne is careful not to anoint a winner, but a summary of his findings shows that Apple labels more cities and Google labels more roads. Plus, while the two show a similar number of places, they have
only 10 percent of their places in common, thanks to Apple focusing on landmarks and Google prioritizing transit.

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Looking Inside Apple’s Advanced Computer Vision — Advanced Computer Vision, a technology coming to the Photos app in macOS Sierra and iOS 10, scans your photos for searchable keywords and to assemble themed collections, called Memories. Kay Yin has analyzed what currently exists of Advanced Computer Vision, compiling a list of 7 facial expressions, 33 Memories categories, and 4432 different scenes and objects that Photos can recognize. Despite not being trained to recognize specific landmarks, like St. Martin’s Maho Beach, it can still identify
them, first determining that Maho is a beach and then paring down the results.

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Bank of America Offering Apple Pay ATM Withdrawals — Bank of America (BoA) is rolling out Apple Pay compatibility to its ATMs, making it possible to use Apple Pay on your iPhone to withdraw cash from over 2400 ATMs that support the technology. You can’t get cash from just any NFC-equipped BoA ATM, though, only those with the Apple Pay branding. So far, the system works only with BoA debit cards linked to Apple Pay.

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