Apple acquires mapping service Placebase

Placebase — a company that offers global mapping services similar to Google Maps — is now owned by corporate giant Apple.

But why is this big news? Gizmodo believes Apple intends to 1-up Google. The gadgeteers are confident Apple will be releasing their own satellite mapping service, as the company deftly makes use of the technology they buy (Coverflow, for example). It’s also believed Apple is looking to further pull away from Google services as a whole — which actually makes sense, seeing as how Apple is becoming more of an independent company — designing custom chips for the iPhone, instead of using the same generic chips available to everyone, for example. Not to mention, Apple has been keeping this purchase on the “hush hush” — the deal evidently went down last July.

Read more: neoseeker.com