Another day, another software update for one (or more) of our devices. This time it’s from Apple in the form of an update to iOS, which brings the software to version 6.1.3.

According to Apple, iOS 6.1.3 fixes a bug that could allow someone to bypass the passcode and access the Phone. Bummer. It also provides improvements to iMaps in Japan. Well, that’s nice for Japan, but what about here in the U.S.?

Maybe next week, right Apple? Meantime, we’re liking Google Maps just fine in iOS, thank you.

The download is 17 MB in size and can be found by going to System Prefs> General on your iOS device. We’re updating now and will report back if anything breaks or, more to the point, improves.

At one time or another, we’ve all needed to go somewhere, but didn’t know how to get there. Back in the old days, that probably meant a paper map and trying to plan a route or, in extreme circumstances, asking directions. And sometimes, things went wrong or didn’t work, and we ended up getting lost. Embarrassing to say the least.

Fortunately, those times pretty much ended with the advent of modern GPS navigation systems you could bring along with you in the car to make sure you didn’t end up someplace you didn’t want to go. Of course, the undisputed king of modern navigation and maps is Google. Sorry Apple.

And today, Google has given we iOS users a gift and updated its Maps application for iOS with several new features that make the app a bit more “personal.” The biggest change is in search, which now integrates with your Google contacts. Once you sign in to your Google account with Google Maps, the app will pull in the names and addresses from your contacts. These addresses will appear when you search for your friends or family members by name.

Google also added a new local feature that lets you search for nearby businesses by selecting categories such as restaurants, bars, gas stations and more. There’s also a new setting that lets you toggle between kilometers or miles. You can also leave that on automatic and it will choose for you depending on where you are.

Get the latest version of Google Maps for iOS in iTunes.

In what most will consider a bold, decisive move (and a few will think of as a simple attempt to save face), Apple CEO Tim Cook sent out a letter of apology today to all users of Apple’s new Maps application. In the letter, Cook admitted that Apple “fell short” on its commitment to customers.

In addition, he recommended that while the company works to fix its maps, users should check out other options for iOS including MapQuest and Microsoft’s Bing app. No mention of Google Maps, however. Shocking, I know.

The full letter is after the break.

Whatever your experience with Apple’s new Maps application in iOS 6 (some people hate it, others are less critical) it is now part of the equation. If you update to iOS 6 or buy an iOS device with it already installed, you’ve just got to take the Apple Maps application and use it, right?

Well, maybe not. One enterprising iOS hacker by the name of Ryan Petrich has taken matters into his own hands and on Sunday posted a video that demonstrates the original Google Maps program from iOS 5 running on iOS 6.

Now before you get too excited the hack isn’t available to the public yet as, according to Petrich, it isn’t stable enough yet to do so. Also, and you should have seen this coming, you will have to jailbreak your iPhone running iOS 6 for this hack to work.

Still, if you just can’t get iMaps in iOS 6 to work for you and you’re willing to go through the steps necessary, relief for you may be in sight. That is until Apple closes this hole in the next iOS 6 updaate. Until then, go nuts!

Check out the video of this in action after the break.

Even if you’re an iPhone and iOS user, you have to give props to Google and Android in at least some areas. One such area is Maps.

Google has been doing maps for a long time and has really gotten them right, especially in its more recent versions of its Maps application for Android. Now they’ve updated the app to version 6.10 and have included even more useful features including full schedules for more than 1 million transit stops across the globe.

In addition, the updated app now has a more polished UI for viewing transit schedules and a new Transit map layer so you can filter by bus, train, tram or subway. They also added more info to My Places, location history, and included area borders during searches.

This is a great update and makes the Maps app even more useful, especially to those on the go. It’s almost enough to make me regret not using an Android-powered smartphone as my primary device every day. Almost.

The update is now live so go forth and, well, update. Let us know if you find any other cool features.

Perhaps this is a good thing and will lead to those much-desired turn by turn directions on the iPhone that users have wanted? Let’s hope so.

What am I talking about? Well, it seems Apple has decided to get rid of Google Maps in iOS 6 and going for an in house solution instead. According to the folks at 9to5Mac, the mapping solution will be in-place for the next major version of the mobile operating system, combining technologies from the acquisition of Placebase, C3 Technologies and Poly9.

According to reports, the new maps app will feature a state of the art 3D mode with graphics provided by C3. The look and features of said 3D maps will supposedly “blow your head off”, at least according to the report.

As someone who’s used both iOS and Android, it’s very clear which has the superior maps application with far more features including turn by turn. With Apple and Google moving farther apart it makes sense that Apple would want to go out on its own this way.

Competition is good and let’s hope that leads to a better maps experience in iOS 6. We expect this to be revealed in much more detail during Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Dev Conference next month.

Over the years, Google has had some pretty amazing ideas. Google Maps has revolutionized the way we travel, Gmail has changed the way we communicate, and Android has taken the smartphone world by storm. One thing that really never caught on, though, was the Google Wave service.

At first it sounded cool: on AIM or Google Talk, you’d always be able to see that whoever was chatting with you was in the middle of typing something. Instead, Google Wave allowed conversations to exist in real-time, with no more waiting in anticipation as the person on the other end typed away. This, theoretically, would speed up conversations, leading to more productivity and less time just staring at the screen, waiting for a reply.

Unfortunately, Google Wave is no more. Google had this to say today on their blog on the subject:

Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects. The central parts of the code, as well as the protocols that have driven many of Wave’s innovations, like drag-and-drop and character-by-character live typing, are already available as open source, so customers and partners can continue the innovation we began. In addition, we will work on tools so that users can easily “liberate” their content from Wave.

Wave has taught us a lot, and we are proud of the team for the ways in which they have pushed the boundaries of computer science. We are excited about what they will develop next as we continue to create innovations with the potential to advance technology and the wider web.

We wave goodbye to Google Wave, those of us who used it. Those who didn’t shall carry on emailing, IMing, Tweeting, Facebooking and  texting as usual.

It looks like Verizon and Motorola have decided it’s time to give users what they really want: the ability to use Android OS 2.1. According to reports around the tech Internets, the update is now being pushed out to users of the Moto DROID smartphone. However, don’t get worried if you haven’t gotten the update yet as it will be a “gradual” rollout” which should hit most of you DROID loving folks by week’s end.

Here’s what the update does for you:

Enhancements

• Pinch-to-zoom now available when using the browser, Gallery, and Google Maps.
• New Weather and News application plus widget.
• The Weather and News app pulls the information you want from the Web and brings it to your fingertips.
• New support for voice-to-text entry.
• Whenever a text-entry box appears, simply tap the microphone icon on the virtual keyboard and speak.
• New Gallery application with 3D layout. View and share photos taken with your phone and images from your online Picasa Web albums.
• Live Wallpapers offer richer animated, interactive backgrounds on the home screen. Access them with a long press anywhere on the home screen.