Apple has acquired a Silicon Valley start-up, WiFiSlam that makes mapping applications for smartphones. A person familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that the iPhone maker paid around 20 million dollars for the company.
The California-based giant confirmed the acquisition, but declined to give any details. WiFiSlam develops technology that provides indoor tracking and similar services.
Apple wants to offer its customers the ability to detect an iPhone’s location in a building using Wi-Fi signals, according to a Wall Street Journal.
One of the co-founders of WifiSLAM is former Google software engineering intern Joseph Huang. He’ll most likely be working for Apple now. Google already offers indoor mapping technology in airports and shopping centers.
The acquisition of WiFiSlam follows Apple also purchasing Australian mobile app search engine Chomp in February last year for a reported 50 million dollars.
