Something really odd is going on at Google.<p>In this post they say:<p><i>"In our last test, IE mobile still did not offer a good maps experience with no ability to pan or zoom and perform basic map functionality. As a result, we chose to continue to redirect IE mobile users to Google.com where they could at least make local searches. The Firefox mobile browser did offer a somewhat better user experience and that’s why there is no redirect for those users.<p>Recent improvements to IE mobile and Google Maps now deliver a better experience and we are currently working to remove the redirect."</i><p>When did they last test it? In any case, why did they say this the day before:<p><i>"The mobile web version of Google Maps is optimized for WebKit browsers such as Chrome and Safari. However, since Internet Explorer is not a WebKit browser, Windows Phone devices are not able to access Google Maps for the mobile web."</i><p>Those aren't the same reason at all. And it's not like Google is a company that should be confused about how browsers and browser engines work.<p>And of course here is video showing mobile IE working just fine on mobile Google Maps (pinch to zoom, panning, etc...):<p><a href="http://wmpoweruser.com/video-proves-that-the-google-maps-mobile-web-app-is-perfectly-usable-on-windows-phone/" rel="nofollow">http://wmpoweruser.com/video-proves-that-the-google-maps-mob...</a><p>This coupled with the ending of GMail EAS support, not allowing YouTube APIs, and their explicit statement they are not going to support WP8, makes me think they have a clear mission to attack Windows Phone, but may have stepped a bit too far too quickly on this one. But I think they'll find a way to exclude support in the future if they can find a way.
<i>"The same Google spokesperson said the redirection for Windows Phone users seeking access to Google Maps via IE in the browser has "always" been in place."</i><p>I don't think I've ever seen this. I had a Windows Phone a few months ago and was able to browse the site with only a few problems (panning was kinda laggy and a couple other graphical issues).<p>I was kind of supportive of Google, placing my faith with them to make the best of the situations, but the reasons they gave are disjoint, and some past problems are giving me the impression they're just attacking the platform as a whole.
When it took a few months to deliver a quality Google Maps for iOS after Apple removed GMaps, the speculation was Google was withholding it on purpose to "hurt" iOS and help Android. Other speculation was that Apple was deliberately not approving it for anti-competitive reasons. The truth was neither, the reality is, quality software takes time.<p>Look at all the hoopla over Facebook's abandonment of HTML5 on mobile. HTML5 is not write-once run anywhere on mobile, where implementations are deliberately constrained in CPU and memory, and where GPU acceleration is all over the map. To get good performance out of HTML5 on mobile, people often have to tune specifically against an OS and browser version. Sencha went through herculean efforts to tease out good performance in their Fastbook HTML5 clone.<p>I think people should not jump so fast to nefarious conspiracy theories and give things time.
The damage is done and Google has tainted their good name with consumers. This isn't just a case that pissed off developers, this is actually moms, dads, and grandmas who suddenly find themselves annoyed by Google.
Reminds me of when Chrome was "mistakenly" classified as a virus by Microsoft:
<a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-10/03/microsoft-chrome-virus" rel="nofollow">http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-10/03/microsoft-chr...</a><p>Are they breaking each others' tech in a war of plausible deniability?
google has some other mobile unfriendly redirects in place, in my case they break <a href="http://search-by-drawing.franz-enzenhofer.com/" rel="nofollow">http://search-by-drawing.franz-enzenhofer.com/</a> for mobile devices. basically googles search by image feature redirects any standard search by image url to the google homepage, if a mobile device is detected. why? <a href="http://productforums.google.com/forum/m/#!category-topic/websearch/google-images/2YQZwS0xtP0" rel="nofollow">http://productforums.google.com/forum/m/#!category-topic/web...</a> "Just to follow up on this, this isn't working because we haven't designed it for mobile yet (phones or tablets)." (but it would work perfectly fine, if the just would scrap the redirect)