Apple fires head of troubled map group

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CUPERTINO, Calif., Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Apple has fired the manager who oversaw the development of the company's troubled mobile mapping service, sources told The New York Times.

The move followed a management shakeup at the Cupertino, Calif., company that began in October when Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook fired Scott Forstall, the former head of Apple's mobile software development.

In the latest dismissal, the senior vice president for Internet software and services at Apple, Eddy Cue, fired map program manager Richard Williamson, the Times was told by two people briefed on the matter who did not want to be named.

Apple's map app, which it developed after breaking from the Google Maps app that had been included in previous versions of its iOS mobile operating system, had come under fire for incorrect addresses, missing landmarks and inaccurate driving directions.

Cook took the rare step of publicly apologizing for the unfinished nature of the map app, even going so far as recommending disappointed customers avail themselves of mapping services from Apple's rivals while the company worked to improve the app.

Cook has given Cue oversight of Apple Maps, along with Siri, the company's voice-activated iPhone assistance technology.