Apple is currently making its best effort to improve its mapping skills. The company said on Friday that it had bought the two startups, HopStop and Locationary, giving Apple more expertise in an area where it has struggled.
Apple would not disclose terms of the deals. “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time,” said Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman, “and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
According to its website, HopStop, which also has an iOS app, is a service that is designed to offer detailed subway, bus, train, taxi, walking and biking directions to more than 600 cities throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The service’s App Store description also notes that it provides HopStop Live! functionality that allows its users to communicate in real-time about stations, train lines, and buses, relaying potential delays and other pertinent information. The other start-up, Locationary, is based in Toronto and specializes in maps and mapping data.
Apple’s Maps app, which was introduced alongside the iPhone 5 after a move away from Google Maps, has been widely criticized for both its poor directions and its glaring lack of public transportation directions. Currently, the app redirects users to third party mapping applications when public transit routes are required.
With its acquisition of Locationary, HopStop, we wish to see a revolutionized Apple’s Maps app in the future!
Read more:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/apple-buys-2-mapping-companies/
