Apple is said to have purchased social search engine, Spotsetter, in a bid to enhance its Maps app.
Former Google Maps engineer Stephen Tse and Johnny Lee co-founded Spotsetter in 2011. Even though Apple has not confirmed the acquisition, the LinkedIn profiles of both Tse and Lee now show Apple as their current employer.
According to a TechCrunch report Apple has acquired the technology of Spotsetter along with the knowledge and expertise of its employees including both the founders. The details of the deal remain undisclosed.
Spotsetter confirmed that the company is closing down but did not mention if it was acquired by the iPhone maker. However, Lee's statement suggests that even though the company is shutting down the founders are still looking for progress in the personalized search for places area.
"With fondest emotions, I'm announcing that we are closing down Spotsetter app. We still have big dreams for personalized search for places and look forward to seeing great progress in this area. Thank you everyone for your support over the past years!" per a statement from Lee on Spotsetter blog.
Until recently, Spotsetter was available on iOS as well as Android. However, the company seems to have bigger plans and wanted to enter the wearables market including the Google Glass and the speculated iWatch.
Spotsetter has appealed to many users as it works as a social search engine on top of a mapping interface. The app pulls data from various social network websites such as Facebook, Twitter and more. The app helps a user find a place and shows venues where your friends have visited or have commented on.
Apple Maps app was ridiculed when it was launched in 2012 along with iOS 6. The Maps app replaced Google Maps that was included in previous versions of iOS. The Maps app received high criticism from users, which made Tim Cook issue a public apology and requested users to download alternate mapping services. Apple was able to rectify its mapping app to some extent but was not able to attract customers.
However, it seems that Apple does not want to lose out in the mapping app business and wants to get its Maps app up to the mark to get positive user attention. The acquisition of Spotsetter seems to be taking Apple Maps app in the right direction. Apple may be working on an improved mapping app and the acquisition of Spotsetter may help the company give stiff competition to other mapping apps such as Google Maps.
According to TechCrunch, Apple was in discussions with Spotsetter for quite some time and the deal quickly closed before other companies could make an offer to the social search engine.
