Apple has bought a company called Coherent Navigation. TechCrunch reports that the acquisition has now been publicly confirmed but Apple has not revealed how much it paid for the GPS and navigation specialists.
The Coherent Navigation team will be joining the Apple developers working on Apple Maps, bringing its expertise to what has traditionally been viewed as a flawed product. Although it is unlikely we will see any effects for a while, a new version of Apple Maps could be ready for the public launch of iOS9 in September this year, if history is anything to go by.
It is unclear exactly how Coherent Navigation will influence Apple’s work. The company has previously specialised in navigation systems with precision far beyond that of consumer-level products, accurate to within three to five meters. It has also dabbled in robotics.
Maps on iOS were provided by Google until 2012. Consumers were happy with the accuracy of the data but Apple was frustrated at having to rely on one of its primary rivals to provide it. Confident it could do better, the company began to build what is now known as Apple Maps.
Launching with the iPhone 5 and iOS6 in September 2012, the result was widely viewed as a disastrous effort.
Users found missing content, incorrect place names, overlapping road junctions and appalling navigation directions that even opted to take people over the runways of airports. Road network officials in Australia branded the app as “potentially life-threatening” because it took people off of the highway and into the open barren park.
Apple soon had to accept responsibility and CEO Tim Cook did so on 28th September 2012. Writing on the Apple website, he formally apologised for the app and advised users to use third-party alternatives while the company worked to fix what was supposed to be better than a third-party offering. Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS software and the overseer of Apple Maps development, was subsequently removed from his position.
None of this inspired confidence in the fledgling service and many lamented the removal of Google Maps. To its credit, Apple has continued to provide updates to Maps that have fixed the most glaring issues but even today users report that bugs still exist. Hopefully this will finally all be cleared up with the launch of iOS9 which is likely to be revealed at Apple’s WWDC developer’s conference next month.
