Next week, on June 2, Apple is having their WWDC conference, where they generally announce new developments of all types other than new iPhones. Rumors are circulating about what they're going to announce. Will it be the long-rumored iWatch? An updated iTV?
Apple's WWDC schedule now gives an interesting tidbit, in the description of a special event on Wednesday June 4 at 4:30pm: "Maps, Location, and iBeacon Get Together: Your phone always knows where it is. Using information about a device's location can help personalize your app and make it more engaging and memorable."
This gives some credence to a prediction Grizzly Analytics made a few weeks ago, that Apple is going to announce indoor location technology that enables iDevices to track their locations indoors, anywhere, in any building. SLAM technology can, in principle, enable the first iDevices that move around a building to learn about that building, so that all future iDevices to enter the building can track their locations effectively.
Here's an excerpt: "I speculate that Apple is preparing to release SLAM on iOS. The reasons are (1) their recently hiring Phillip Stanger, with his focus on indoor location, (2) a recently published patent application, (3) their acquisition of start-up company WiFiSLAM one year ago, (4) their introduction of the M7 motion sensing chip in the iPhone 5s, (5) some plans for the upcoming WWDC conference, and (6) Apple's out-of-character history of both supporting and preventing indoor location technology on iPhones."
Apple's comment above focuses not on maps but on apps, which we wrote about a year ago, in analyzing Apple's acquisition of start-up WiFiSLAM.
Of course, Apple is incredibly hard to predict, and have a knack for surprising us. So stay tuned to WWDC to see if this and the dozens of other WWDC predictions come to fruition.....