Sorry y'all. (Photo: News.au)

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the meeting when Tim Cook decided a product he'd overseen was terrible enough to warrant a public apology. The (faux?) humility, the palpable disappointment.

In a letter published to the Apple website and addressed to customers, Mr. Cook apologized for the frustration that the widely-panned Apple maps has caused.

However, tech journalists everywhere are still waiting for an apology from Mr. Cook for having such a boring story dominate the news cycle, as well as giving Google a reason to act ever more smug.

In the letter, Mr. Cook wrote:

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

Mr. Cook said the team is working furiously to improve maps, but suggested alternatives while they're working on them. This has to be the first time an Apple CEO has recommended using a competitor's product. "While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app," he wrote. Awkward.

Meanwhile, Mr. Cook has yet to address iOS 6's reported wifi issues, which have left some customers unable to connect to networks. The Verge pointed us to a long thread on the Apple help forums where many users lament their newly upgrade device's inability to get wifi. No word on when that will get fixed.

Hear that? It's the rattling ghost of Steve Jobs preparing to haunt Mr. Cook forever.

Serial numbers, plz. (Photo: flickr.com/lynxman)

Apple is reportedly attempting to poach members of the Google Maps team. You know what they say: If you can't beat 'em, steal 'em. [TechCrunch]

The latest boat lifted by the rising tide of the New York tech boom: accounting firms. [Crain's New York]

Apparently NYPD officers were stationed outside Apple's Fifth Avenue flagship, asking new iPhone 5 owners to register their serial numbers in case of theft. [Yahoo]

Meanwhile, in New Zealand: A court has ordered an investigation into whether Kim Dotcom was the victim of "unlawful spying." [BBC News]

The screengrabs posted on the site come from iPhones and iPads. While many are self-explanatory, some come with pithy commentary, like this image, captioned, "Freiburg, Germany. Seem to be authentic World War II sattelite  (sic) images":

(Original here.)

The only thing missing from the antique-looking gray image is Red Baron in a biplane, with Snoopy in hot pursuit.

Then there's this beaut, which appears to uncover some kind of hideous, warped disaster:

(Original here.)

The image above is captioned, "I-93 at the Zakim Bridge in Boston. Never knew it was a roller coaster!"

That sounds like fun, but one of the best of the worst appears to indicate everyone should get the hell out of Brooklyn, right now:

(Original here.)

The caption reads, "Clearly Apple knows of the coming apocolypse (sic). Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge."

The Tumblr has been updated constantly throughout the day.

We can almost hear the schadenfreude-driven evil laughter rising from Google HQ.

Apple iPhone 5. (Photo: twitter.com/DiarioLaPrensa)

Inside Google HQ's vast and endlessly churning maw there's probably some schadenfreude tonight, as it looks like Apple's iOS6 replacement for the Google Maps app might be a turd in the new iPhone's punch bowl. That's the story from Waze CEO Noam Bardin, anyway.

BGR reports that Waze supplies traffic info for Apple's new maps. Perhaps because Apple is actually relying more on TomTom for mapping services than Waze, Mr. Bardin has some strong opinions about Apple's choices:

"Apple went out and partnered with the weakest player," [Mr. Bardin] said. "They're now coming out with the lowest, weakest data set and they're competing against Google, which has the highest data set. What's going to happen with the Apple maps, is that you're literally not going to find things. When you do find them, they might be in the wrong place or position geographically. And if you do have it, the route to it may not be the optimal route."

Mr. Bardin went on to tell BGR's Dan Graziano that many other app developers are contacting his company hoping to incorporate Waze's maps in new mobile applications instead of whatever Apple's schlepping out with the new iPhone.

Which may answer a question we asked in August, when we speculated recklessly as to why Facebook execs were meeting with the folks at Waze. Are we gearing up for a three-way battle royale between Google, Apple and Facebook over mapping services?

We'll stock up on popcorn, just in case.

UPDATE: TomTom reached to Betabeat with the following comment:

“TomTom supplies maps and related content to the majority of handheld players, including RIM, HTC, Samsung, AOL (MapQuest Mobile), Apple and, yes, Google (for the areas where they don't make their own maps).

Our maps are used by businesses around the world, which have standards for coverage, detail, quality and safety.

When people use a map, their experience is determined by two things. Firstly, the underlying content, notably the maps. This is what TomTom is currently supplying the mobile industry with and it is what gives their maps the best foundation. Secondly, user experience is determined by adding additional features to the map application, such as visual imagery. This is typically defined and created by the handset manufacturers and third party software providers on the basis of their own vision and needs.”