The mysterious Apple vans that have been spotted around the country are gathering data for an in-house Maps database, taking storefront photos, and collecting images for an upcoming 3D Street View feature, reports 9to5Mac. Sources say the vans are not test vehicles for an upcoming self-driving Apple car.To launch Maps, Apple aggregated geography data from several third-party sources, including TomTom. The company is said to be working on replacing data from those sources with its own base map data. Initially Apple had planned to shift to its own in-house map database in 2017 but that may be running behind schedule and instead could happen in 2018.Apple’s vans are also collecting street view images; however, the company wants to display the images in a more intuitive manner.Share Article:Facebook,   Twitter,   LinkedIn,   Google Plus,   Email,   Reddit,   Digg,   Delicious,   StumbleUponFollow iClarified:Facebook,   Twitter,   LinkedIn,   Google Plus,   Newsletter,   App Store,   YouTubeAdvertise Here

Source: iClarified Read More: Mysterious Apple Vans Gathering Data for Maps, Images for 3D Street View Feature?