Apple gives Google Maps the boot, adds free turn-by-turn navigation to iPhone

The big news in the tech world right now is the World Wide Developer's Conference which Apple just concluded. That's where the House that Jobs Built unveiled its latest operating systems for both computers and mobile devices, its latest laptop computer design and more. But what does this all have to do with cars, you ask? Plenty.

First off, Apple used the high-profile press conference extravaganza to announce the integration of its Siri voice service into cars, starting with nine automakers (among them the massive General Motors group) that will be putting a dedicated button on their steering wheels to allow drivers to activate the service on their iPhones and iPads without taking their hands off the wheel or their eyes off the road. But that's not all that's of relevance to motorists from WWDC 2012.

Apple has also announced the launch of its own Maps application, replacing the Google Maps utility it had begrudgingly integrated into its devices until now. Resulting from Apple's acquisition of several erstwhile independent digital cartography operations, Maps aims to improve on the popular Google service with such features as spoken turn-by-turn directions with real-time ETA, smooth-scrolling 3D imaging, aerial flyover views of city centers and important landmarks, Siri integration and real-time traffic information.

The latter is reportedly crowdsourced anonymously from other users, leaving us with some questions regarding privacy issues. But we'll leave that to the guys with the tin-foil hats while we blissfully revel in Big Brother's latest offering to the masses. Follow the links below to see what Apple has in store in greater detail.