Refusing to accept Apple Maps' position as the D student of the GPS world, Tim Cook and Co. have acquired Coherent Navigation, a Bay Area firm with expertise in high-accuracy GPS and navigation services.

Considering its prowess in the navigation field there's no prize for guessing what Apple will be using it for. Despite this, Apple is sticking to the same approach it usually takes when announcing acquisitions, refusing to articulate what its plans are for Coherent Navigation more precisely.

Instead, Apple has released its boilerplate acquisition statement: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

The map to success

The firm, which was founded in 2008 by engineers from Stanford and Cornell, saw Apple hire some of its employees recently, including CEO Paul Lego and co-founders William Bencze and Brett Ledvina.

Coherent Navigation is not the first mapping firm to be acquired by Apple, but despite snapping up Pin Drop's developers, WifiSLAM, Locationary, Hopstop, Broadmap, and Embark in recent years, Apple has been unable to meet the standard set by Google Maps.

After the sales success of the Apple Watch, perhaps Coherent Navigation can contribute to an equally popular version of Apple Maps, inserting the final piece in Cupertino's frustratingly muddled mapping puzzle.