Amazon has joined Apple in moving away from using Google Maps. Amazon has just released a developer kit for its own mapping system, which encourages developers to transition from using Google Maps to the Amazon Maps API. The reason this isn’t a surprise is because the giant ecommerce company has been rumored to dumping Google Maps in favor of Nokia Maps for weeks now. Not much is known about what this mapping tool brings, but the invitation to developers were “invite only.”
Many folks around the web expect Amazon Maps to usher in the same basic functionality as Google Maps, including map or satellite imagery and custom overlays. The new Maps feature should offer location mapping services, and work on most Kindle Fire tablets. This whole thing reeks of Nokia, but so far, no one knows for sure.
Since the beginning of the Kindle Fire’s existence, Amazon has made it crystal clear that it fully intends on pushing as far away from Google’s branding as possible. The company has already dropped Google search as its main search tool, so hearing that it is getting rid of Google Maps isn’t a big shock.
In the future, it’ll be interesting to see if Google does anything to prevent Amazon from so flagrantly dismissing it as a huge part of the Kindle Fire line of tablets. Honestly, it’s hard for the search giant to spin to people how Amazon’s actions doesn’t at least irk them it the slightest.
What are your thoughts? Did you agree with Amazon stripping away everything Google? Drop us a comment down below.
[via The Verge]