Apple and Facebook take aim at Google Apple has struck a new alliance with Facebook to integrate the social network into its iPhone, iPad and Mac operating system at the same time it introduces a range of new MacBook computers. The ability to post photos, map locations and links to Facebook directly from Apple devices marks a thawing in what has been seen as a potentially adversarial relationship and will bolster the two companies" efforts to compete with Google. Underlining that rivalry, Apple also unveiled a homegrown Maps application, ousting the Google Maps app that has come preloaded on the iPhone since its launch in 2007. Apple's Maps will include three-dimensional images of cities, turn-by-turn navigation - a feature over which Google's Android has held an advantage over the iPhone - and local search capabilities with the reviews site Yelp. "Apple is exploring new ways to find and share things that have nothing to do with Google," said Benedict Evans of consultancy Enders Analysis. With Maps, Apple is making a head-on assault on a core Google product, aiming to beat Google on its own turf. iPhone and iPad users will also be able to see what apps their Facebook friends are downloading, helping to solve a growing problem of discovering new games and utilities among the 650,000 apps now available on Apple's App Store. The new features will be released in the autumn. At its annual Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco, Apple revealed improvements to its Siri voice-control system, including the ability to check live sports scores and forthcoming integration into the steering-wheel of cars from several major manufacturers, including Audi, Toyota and Chrysler. Other new features in iOS6, its iPhone and iPad software, include an app which can be used to replace store loyalty cards and transport tickets and the ability to make video calls over a cellular wireless connection. Apple also used the event to make a renewed push to use the iPhone and iPad "halo effect" to convert more PC users to its higher-priced hardware. A new MacBook Pro notebook, touting thinner casing and the same "Retina Display" screen used in the latest iPhones and iPad, led a series of upgrades. "Surfing the web can be like experiencing magazine-like quality," said Phil Schiller, head of product marketing, describing the new $2,200 MacBook Pro, which he said was thinner than his finger. Existing models of other Macbooks were also given upgraded Intel processors, extra storage and more memory. By making a combined push around the new devices, Apple hopes to sell more of its $1,000-plus computers to new converts to the Mac operating system, ahead of the release of Microsoft's Windows 8 software. Customers who buy a new Mac will be eligible for an upgrade to the new Mountain Lion operating system when it is released later this year. Apple also issued new figures for the App Store which suggested the rate of growth is accelerating, as more iPads and iPhones are sold and the store is extended internationally to 155 countries. More than $5bn in revenue - which is split 70 per cent for developers and 30 per cent for Apple - has been paid out to developers in total since the download store launched in mid-2008. Apple unveiled the new technology on Monday to whoops and cheers from adoring developers. Ahead of the keynote speech, Apple poked fun at rival Samsung, with its voice control service Siri saying it was looking forward to the South Korean manufacturer's new fridge.