Apple has bought indoor GPS startup WifiSLAM for US$20 million, but is remaining secretive about its strategy.
Responding vaguely to a request from the Wall Street Journal, an Apple spokesperson said: “[The company] buys smaller technology companies from time to time.”
This new acquisition will give the company the opportunity to improve on the release of previous attempts to enter the map service field after the failure of Mapplegate.
HumanIPO reported last year on Google re-releasing Google Maps onto iOS mobile devices, after the failure of Apple’s Maps project.
The Silicon Valley-based WifiSLAM prides itself in mobile device detection through Wi-Fi signals.
Indoor maps, retail and social networking apps are all related possibilities originating from this development.
One of the co-founders of this two-year startup include Joseph Huang, a former Google software engineering intern.
As the Wall Street Journal speculates this move to be a sign of the location mobile race’s pace increasing, the suspicion that Apple is challenging Google on mapping grounds grows stronger.
Meanwhile, Google location services for airports and shopping centres are already active.
