WiFiSlam is building the next generation of location-based mobile apps that engage with users at the scale that personal interaction actually takes place, claims Apple acquisition
Apple has acquired a Silicon Valley start up with a focus on mapping and location technology, WiFiSlam.
WiFiSlam, which specialises in GPS technology for smartphones, may be Apple's bid to correct last year's Apple Map debacle in which users were sent the wrong way up non-existent streets when the megalith's app failed to make any sense.
Apple confirmed the acquisition but did not provide any details, although The Wall Street Journal claimed that Apple has paid about $20 million for WiFiSlam.
WiFiSlam creates applications that allow tacking indoors, which is always harder to achieve due to the thickness of building walls, which interfere with mobile signals. The company allows people to pinpoint their and friends' locations using smartphones, in real time to 2.5 metre accuracy, using only ambient Wi-Fi signals that are already present in buildings.
WiFiSlam claims it is building the next generation of location-based mobile apps that engage with users at the scale that personal interaction actually takes place. Its applications range from step-by-step indoor navigation, to product level retail customer engagement, to proximity-based social networking.
It is thought this move will give Apple a boost in its race against successful mapping rival, Google, whose maps service is widely used by both Android and Apple users.
