Talk about pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes. Computerworld blogger Seth Weintraub has discovered that Apple ever so quietly acquired the mapping company Placebase way back in July. Yes, July. The reason for this somewhat important piece of news going relatively unnoticed until now is that Weintraub had nothing else to go on at that time except for a single tweet from Placebase CEO Jaron Waldman indicating the acquisition. Weintraub decided to revisit the case recently by checking Waldman’s LinkedIn profile, and sure enough, Waldman is now part of the “Geo Team” at Apple.
As we all know, Apple relies heavily on Google’s mapping technology, not only for the iPhone and iPod touch, but also for iPhoto. Acquiring and utilizing Placebase could help Apple sever even more ties with the search giant. It goes without saying that Apple’s rift with Google has already been well documented. Not only has Apple rejected, or “not approved,” Google Voice, they have also forced Google to make Latitude a web app, and to to top it off, Google’s own Eric Schmidt recently stepped down from Apple’s board of directors.
It’s also possible that Apple may just sit on this technology for a while and see where it takes them. It could be their fallback option, you know, just in case the two companies keep going on their diverging paths. Just because Apple acquired a mapping company doesn’t mean they will put it to use immediately. They could be working on some super secret mapping technology that goes well beyond the scope of a simple mapping app. It is Apple after all.
[Image via Computerworld]
i really wish google and apple would squash their differences. i think with their influence and tech combined they could be a very powerful duo on the world. too bad they are too busy squabbling over petty matters. why would anyone choose at&t’s alliance (considering at&t’s amazing track record! /s) over google’s?!?! the lack of google apps on the iphone is ridiculous considering some of the iphone’s best functionality heavily relies on google code (ie google sync [calendar, contacts, and email], google maps, youtube, safari search bar). This whole scenario stinks of middle school drama.
it’s already been reported that apple was contracted by mercedes to design new navigation systems for their cars. having owned several BMWs with nav systems, as well as having seen the mercedes nav systems, i can say that they definitely leave a *lot* to be desired, when it comes to UI and user-friendliness.
the report that i read, a year or so ago, stated that mercedes had paid for exclusivity for 6 months, after which time apple was free to license the system to other automakers. since apple already has a relationship with BMW, i’m hopeful BMW will be next in line.
i suspect the acquisition of placebase will provide apple-owned content (as opposed to licensed content) for these new nav systems (as well as other products).
no doubt apple will do for nav systems what they did for cell phones with the iphone: set the new standard.