Mr McClendon stresses they will still be able to access Google Maps via their devices' web browsers, although he would not be drawn about the idea of offering a rival Maps app.

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To give ISPs tools beyond the RBL, MAPS also is pursuing the idea of creating a clearinghouse, according to Nicholas.

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If Nocera stopped there, with the idea that Steve Jobs would never have released Apple Maps, the piece would simply have been boring.

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But for many, such issues pale against the idea of a world without "free" mobile maps, and Apple's entry into the sector is seen as a driving force for further innovation.

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This time we have much more to choose from, including YouTube, ChatOn, GMail, Maps, Internet and, well, you get the idea.

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To endow this idea with more political weight, some diplomats think that Georgia might be given the equivalent of the European road maps being followed by Balkan countries, though without (for now) a promise of membership at the end.

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