Apple acquires HopStop transit navigation service

PanARMENIAN.Net - Apple has acquired transit navigation service HopStop, in the company's latest bid to improve its mapping product, Digital Spy said.

The news comes hours after the California-based tech giant announced that it had also bought crowd-sourcing data company Locationary.

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet confirmed the move to AllThingsD, saying: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

HopStop attracts some two million users, providing access to fastest public transit, foot, bike and car directions. The service is currently available in over 600 cities across the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Apple's current iOS app does not include any public transport mapping. HopStop's service will enable the company to offer directions via public transport and provide prices.

Directions to multiple destinations and real-time alerts are also available on the service, which has free iOS and Android apps on top of its desktop offering.

Hopstop joins a growing list of map-related acquisitions by Apple. The company bought GPS navigation start-up Waze for an estimated $1.3 billion in June.