Talk about timing. In the wee hours of the morning Patently Apple posted a patent report titled "Apple Advances Next-Gen Live Indoor Mapping Technology based on Inertial Navigation." The patent was covering technology that they picked up when acquiring indoor mapping navigation company Flyby Media. Back in 2013 Apple acquired WifiSLAM, a company that was borne out of a Stanford University project. Today we learn that Apple secretly acquired a Finnish company by the name of Indoor.io last year to boost their already long standing indoor mapping project. In fact, one Apple patent on this subject dates back to 2008.

Patently Apple posted a special report on the subject of indoor mapping back in 2014 titled "Apple and Google Headed for an Indoor Location Services War," that could give you a broad overview of the subject.

A company with a similar name is indoor.rs and they happen to have a similar technology as you'll note in the video below to give you another take on indoor mapping services.

The news of the acquisition was presented in a new Bloomberg report that also covers Apple's ongoing outdoor mapping efforts to catch up to and surpass Google Maps. The report notes that "Apple wants to fly drones around to do things like examine street signs, track changes to roads and monitor if areas are under construction, the person said. The data collected would be sent to Apple teams that rapidly update the Maps app to provide fresh information to users." Check out the Bloomberg report covering Apple's own Drone program that was granted approval by the FAA in March.

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