“In a move that could intensify the battle between Android and iOS, Apple has reportedly acquired an indoor GPS company to begin mapping malls, airports and other hotspots,” Louis Bedigian writes for Benzinga.
“According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple may have paid as much as $20 million for WiFiSLAM, a two-year-old startup,” Bedigian writes. “Founded by Joseph Huang (a former software engineer intern at Google), Jessica Tsoong, Darin Tay and Dave Millman, WiFiSLAM developed technology to pinpoint a smartphone’s location within 2.5 meters. The company uses ambient Wi-Fi signals (which are already present in many buildings) to provide this info in real-time.”
Bedigian writes, “By acquiring WiFiSLAM, Apple will be able to bring indoor maps of malls, airports, convention halls and other indoor complexes to iOS.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related article:
Apple acquires indoor location company WifiSLAM for $20 million – March 23, 2013
Sometimes wish Walmart products around the store would be mapped. The employees don’t know where things are part of the time.
That would be awesome! I don’t shop at Walmart much but when I do that’d be a big help.
They WANT you to wander around the store lost, you’ll see more things you’ll put in your cart. That’s why stores rearrange now and then, keep you walking and looking instead of going to a direct hit for the one product you came for and leaving.
“Upload the schematics, Chloe!”
-Jack Bauer
Geez, as a huge 24 fan (who literally used to walk around college wearing a “Counter Terrorist Unit” baseball cap), I have to say that post was genius.
There is no need to upload the schematics. Take a look online for the lengthy talk WifiSlam gave. It is automatic mapping. Product location and sales promotions are some of the key uses. Locating a person in the store who has the app running is a great feature. This person location would apply to store personnel also if you need help.
This technology sounds a bit flakey. We’ll see…
That’s the real concern. How can consumers put faith in Apple’s indoor maps when the outdoor ones flopped? Of course, getting stranded at the mall is not nearly as bad as getting stranded in the desert…
There have been many times that I’ve been in a new building, and didn’t know how to get from point A to point B. This would be a big help.
I’ve been through Chicago O’Hare on several occasions, and when changing airlines, a map from one terminal to the next would be MOST helpful.
There are others, but O’Hare is the worst.
This is a sign of the apocolypse.
No, but it will help people who get lost easily. I guess? Just another way to be tracked. “Paranoid”? “I am not paranoid”!…………………… “Is that car following us”?
no that car is not following us–I MEAN what car?!
Oh, such narrow vision. Knowing where someone is and personally customizing the information for that person at that location has so many possibilities. Consider sales and customer assistance. Or biofeedback and emergency assistance or automated medical care.
Examples:
• You are a diabetic and the biofeedback notes your need for a food to reset your levels. The system tells you what you need, how much and where it is.
• The fire alarm goes off and your iOS device tells you the safest way out and tags your location for the emergency teams.
“Think Different!” Apple does.
Love the fire alarm idea. Can’t believe Google hasn’t done it yet!
You walk down the hallway of the building and the holographic ads you see projected are all targeted at you.
Minority Report – just sayin’
I think Apple is more interested in selling advertising. Once you walk into a store you are immediately recognized and subjected to the corporation’s incessant messages to buy, buy, buy. Thanks, but no thanks.
Tagging bodies for emergency crews? That’s a great service! What will Apple’s next slogan for iPhone be,”Our phones will last longer than you.”
This is terrific! Now when my wife sends me to that grocery store wasteland, I can ask Siri, ‘where the heck is the cat food in this place?’. 😉
There’s an app for that… well at least for most airports and larger malls and shopping centers. It’s called Point Inside.
Because the spaces inside malls and airports are often changing, I guess it would be as accurate as the users keep it…
I want a map of the college I work at … so many many uses.
I’m not trying to be sarcastic because I don’t quite see how this technology has more use than a “You are here” star on a map. All I know is acquiring this company for $20 million when Apple has $140 billion in the bank is like putting a bandage on a wound caused by a hollow-point bullet. Apple’s share value appears to be bleeding profusely and a whole surgical medical team might not be enough to patch up the patient.
Apple likes small acquisitions. Instead of buying Garmin, it buys a small fry like WiFiSLAM.
What caliber? Just wondering.
I hate and avoid malls.
How about Apple finds a way to bulldoze them all?
Coming soon to the App Store: the Mall Bulldozer 4000.
Why? They can’t even bloody map the fucking towns correctly!
Before that, Apple needs to enhance the street maps first. I can’t even find a landmark, restaurants, gas station, etc. Some satellite images are in B&W.
Wow finally I will be able to find my way out of IKEA maze.
Ye People of little vision, Apple brought this small company (as usual) to support some larger unannounced project in the works simple.