Apple buys ‘iGPS’ company Coherent Navigation

For a company that has had its fair share of follies when it comes to navigation, it makes sense that Apple has acquired several maps and location-based companies. The most recent is Coherent Navigation, a pioneer in high-integrity GPS (iGPS) technology. Could there be more to it than just improving maps and navigation? Is this a step towards different global positioning applications like games, virtual reality, or personal location services? We will probably find out in the not too distant future.

If it were simply for navigation, there would be very little use for such accuracy. Getting from one address to another does not require pinpoint precision; 3-5 meters is plenty of accuracy to navigate people to a destination. If, on the other hand, the goal was to integrate technology that could know a nearly exact location within inches (or even less than an inch) within a three dimensional grid, the possibilities are endless.