Apple agreed to buy online transit-navigation service HopStop.com Inc., people with knowledge of the deal said, seeking to improve mapping tools after a rocky debut for its directions software last year. The people asked not to be identified because the deal isn’t public. AllThingsD reported yesterday that Cupertino, California-based Apple is purchasing Locationary Inc., a Toronto-based company focused on business-location maps. New mapping software Apple debuted in September with the iPhone 5 has been faulted for getting users lost and for its lack of public-transportation directions. HopStop shows users in more than 500 cities the fastest way to travel by foot, bike, subway and car; Locationary deploys real-time data from a variety of sources to help users find featured businesses. Apple, which touted the map features as a key software change in the iPhone 5, built its navigation application amid a growing battle with Google.
