Apple Said to be Thinking of Buying Waze to Help Fix Apple Maps

[Maura]

MacRumors reports today on rumours first written about by TechCrunch, about Apple apparently looking into acquiring turn-by-turn navigation company Waze, with the intention of helping to improve Apple Maps. MacRumors writes that Waze, which is already a partner in Apple Maps, is well-known for the way in which it uses real-time information from other road users as a means of letting their fellow road users know about the most up-to-the-minute traffic conditions. TechCrunch surmises that buying up Waze could be even better for Apple than if it were to acquire Foursquare, which it has also been rumoured to be interested in. This is because Waze maps are built on moving cars’ locations, meaning that they are therefore much more accurate than check-in apps such as Foursquare. In fact, says TechCrunch,

“Outside of Google’s project to map cities with Streetview cars - something which has taken years to complete - and the real-world mapping undertaken by volunteers on the Open Streetmaps open-source project, there has been little to match Waze’s approach.”

MacRumors notes that another good indication that Apple might be thinking about acquiring Waze is the fact that it was one of the iOS apps that was singled out by Apple as a suitable alternative to Apple Maps for those not happy with the current in-house iOS 6 app.

Source: Apple Interested in Purchasing Social Turn-by-Turn Navigation Company Waze? - Mac Rumors

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[andrzejls]

Just stay with Google Maps, it works. KISS

[KevinJS]

Just stay with Google Maps, it works. KISS

Exactly. Why don't they just buy Google, and be done with it.