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Australian Police Warn: Apple’s Map App “Potentially Life Threatening”

December 11, 2012

Police in Mildura, Australia have a bone to pick with Apple’s Map App that’s far more serious than a misplaced airport, an erased London or disappearing national monument. Authorities issued a startling warning to Australian citizens that the errors on the app were “potentially life threatening,” after the app mistakenly located the city of Mildura 43 miles away in the wrong location of the Australian outback where water is scarce and temperatures can top 115 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of the country’s summer, Wired reported.

The department cites at least four cases where motorists have been lost and stranded because of the map. One man was stranded without water for 24 hours and had to hike through harsh conditions to be able to get a phone signal.

The department warned against users relying on directions from Apple.

“Tests on the mapping system by police confirm the mapping systems lists Mildura in the middle of the Murray Sunset National Park, approximately 70km away from the actual location of Mildura,” the warning on the state of Victoria’s department website states. “Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees, making this a potentially life threatening issue.”

Apple’s spokesperson Adam Howorth told CNN that the company is “working hard to fix its maps.” CNN tested other mapping systems, including Google’s, that accurately identified Mildura’s location.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook briefly commented on Apple’s map debacle in an interview with Businessweek earlier this month.

“…We had a list of things that we thought would be a great customer experience, and we couldn’t do it any other way than to do it ourselves,” Cook stated in the interview. “…We set out to give the customer something to provide a better experience. And the truth is it didn’t live up to our expectations. We screwed up.”

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Filed Under: Global, Mobile, Top Stories

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