Amazon has acquired a 3D mapping startup possibly to take the Kindle fire to the next level. Mapping is now the latest sensation for the tech giants. Google, Apple and Microsoft have been improving their mapping features in recent times. Bing is taking Nokia’s mapping software for Windows Phone to replace Bing, Apple is matching Google maps with it’s new mapping feature in the iOS 6. And now Amazon snatches UpNext (a mapping company). The Kindle Fire lacks GPS, though some apps try to work around the omission. Amazon may be on to a mapping feature for the Kindle to make it even much more better.
The company already has a variety of free apps for Kindle Fire, Android, iPhone and iPad. Other features include local search and discovery, venue reviews; deal finder, the ability to visualize your social and location graphs with Foursquare and pre-cached offline mode.
UpNext has three modes:
Immerse – Fast, seamless 3D cities with rich visual detail and an interactive touch interface.
Explore – Immediately see what places are around you without the fuss. Highlights places you’ll actually want to go to.
Navigate – Point to point directions for driving, public transit or walking. Helpful routing to get you where you want to be.
Neither Amazon or UpNext has confirmed or commented on the acquisition yet.
