Windows Phone users have a reason to smile today. Google Maps will finally be making its way to Microsoft's smartphone platform after discontinuing its policy of blocking Windows Phone users from accessing the service.
In a statement to The Next Web, Google stated that "IE mobile still did not offer a good maps experience" in the firm's last test. However, the company also stated that "Recent improvements to IE mobile and Google Maps now deliver a better experience and we are currently working to remove the redirect."
Curiously, Google told The Verge that Internet Explorer incompatibility was to blame for the Google Maps outage. Both Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari browser are based on Chrome, while IE Mobile is not.
Some say Google was behaving much the way Microsoft did when it prevented MSN.com from working with browsers other than IE over a decade ago. Whether this is an example of history repeating itself or not, the important thing is that Windows Phone users will soon be able to take advantage of what is arguably the best mobile maps service available.
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