Just one day after it was reported Apple Inc. is purchasing Cupertino Toronto-based Locationary, a company focused on developing business-location maps. Now it appears, in an ongoing effort to repair its damaged reputation after the debut of its failed Apple Maps last year with its release with the iPhone 5, Apple has agreed to buy HopStop.com.
The report comes from Bloomberg who cites sources who requested to remain anonymous because the deal has not yet been made public. HotStop is a New York based company which provides directions for more than 140 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and six other countries, according to its website. It is dedicated to being the go-to place for people looking for directions on foot, bike, subway or car in more than 500 cities.
Last year, Apple touted its replacement mapping service as one of the key features built into the new iPhone 5. However, its app has been faulted for getting users lost quite often as well as its lack of transportation directions. The itself was built amid a growing battle with Google Inc. in which the replacement app was designed to scale back Apple's reliance on Google technology. Since that time, Google maps have skyrocketed in popularity while Apple maps have become a bit of a joke with consumers.
In December, Google unveiled its mapping application for the iPhone and iPad. To date, it is the most popular free program in Apple's App Store. Meanwhile, Apple's newly acquired HopStop ranks in at No. 7 among free navigation tools.
Apple is rumored to be working on a lot of new improvements. Perhaps if HotStop and Locationary can move fast enough over the next few months, the company will be set to debut a new Apple Maps product along with its low-cost iPhone Lite or even the flagship iPhone 5s.
