Maps 'Blunder' Dogs Apple as New iPhone Launches

The iPhone 5 is on sale today, as evidenced by the usual jam-packed stores in Asia and Europe, reports AP. The same will follow in the US—in fact, some analysts think Apple might sell a record 10 million phones this weekend, notes Bloomberg. Apple, however, also is dealing with a spate of negative user reviews over its decision to ditch Google Maps and replace it with its own version of digital maps. The Wall Street Journal, for example, calls out the company for a "rare strategic blunder" in a prominent story that rounds up the criticism. (A Tumblr is documenting some of the map fails here.)

Apple insists that the function will get better as more people use it, but the gist from the tech world is that the maps are way too buggy—and simply not as good as Google's. "It's a precarious position for Apple," write Nilay Patel and Adi Robertson at The Verge, because the maps function is the iPhone's major new feature. A headline at the Gadget Lab blog at Wired sums it up as the "Apple Mapocalypse." (So will Google release a stand-alone app for iPhone users? Stay tuned.)