The iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 could feature indoor GPS mapping following Apple's purchase of indoor GPS specialist WifiSLAM.
Apple acquired the company for $20 million according to the Wall Street Journal and although Apple said the deal did go ahead, the Cupertino-based outfit didn't reveal how the company would be using WifiSLAM.
According to AngelList, WifiSLAM's main business is to:
'Allow your smartphone to pinpoint its location (and the location of your friends) in real-time to 2.5m accuracy using only ambient WiFi signals that are already present in buildings.
'We are building the next generation of location-based mobile apps that, for the first time, engage with users at the scale that personal interaction actually takes place. Applications range from step-by-step indoor navigation, to product-level retail customer engagement, to proximity-based social networking.'
This information would suggest Apple plans to take the company's expertise and either build apps for download from the App Store or use the knowledge to include built-in indoor GPS into its next devices.
We all know features take a long time to develop from idea to roll out, so it seems likely these features will not appear on devices until next year (we think it'll be the iPhone 6 at the earliest).
The Wall Street Journal spoke to an Apple spokesperson who said Apple, 'buys smaller technology companies from time to time,' but couldn't discuss the plans any further.
WifiSLAM has been up and running for two years and provides its services to thrid party app developers. It began as a start-up, with a number of private investors according to the company's listing on AngelList.
Google already offers indoor GPS services in some public locations including airports and shopping centres and Apple's acquisition shows that the company is desperate to keep up with its biggest competitor.
by clareh via Featured Articles
Posts
No comments: