A person familiar with the matter has revealed that Apple has purchased indoor navigation company WiFiSLAM. It has reportedly paid $20 million for the company based in Silicon Valley. An Apple spokesman did confirm that the company has made this purchase, and added that Apple does purchase smaller companies from time to time, but doesn’t necessarily reveal what it plans to do with them. No further comment was made, and WiFiSLAM hasn’t commented at all on the deal.
WiFiSLAM is a two year old indoor navigation company. It developed technology that allows apps to determine the user’s location in a building, based on Wi-Fi signals. The technology is used for indoor mapping purposes. Since last year we’ve been seeing Apple’s renewed interest in mapping. It set the wheels in motion when it booted Google Maps from iOS and introduced Apple Maps. Google already has an indoor mapping offering for certain select locations, including shopping centers, airports and sports venues. WiFiSLAM is yet another weapon in Apple’s arsenal, as the mapping wars, be it indoor or out door mapping, continue to heat up.
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