Apple May Have Acquired GPS Company Coherent Navigation [Update]

Apple may have acquired GPS company Coherent Navigation, reports MacRumors. The company was started in 2008 by engineers from Stanford and Cornell.

A number of Coherent's key employees recently began working for Apple, including tech veteran and CEO Paul Lego in January and co-founders William Bencze and Brett Ledvina as of last month. Coherent's website has also been taken offline, but on April 30 the name servers for the domain were updated to point to Apple's servers.

Coherent Navigation said their mission was to make navigation better by leveraging new signals and advanced signal processing methods. "We’re working toward a future where navigation users enjoy instant, secure and accurate navigation anywhere and anytime at the push of a button."


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Coherent Navigation is committed to the development of advanced satellite navigation hardware and software that brings precise, secure, robust positioning, timing, and communication solutions to users anywhere on the globe, any day of the year. With our partners, we’ve developed the world’s first GPS + Iridium navigation solutions, which use deeply-integrated precise navigation and timing techniques to deliver location-based services and information the way our customers need them: quickly, reliably, and securely, anywhere on the globe. We’ve revolutionized the security of civil GPS receivers, closing security holes that threaten the world’s financial interests and critical infrastructure.
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It is unclear if Apple acquired Coherent Navigation for a piece of technology or for its engineers. Lego indicates he is part of Apple's Maps team while Bencze is working in "Wireless Technologies; Locaton/Motion Engineering at Apple" and Ledvina is working in "Wireless: Location Software Engineer".


Update: Apple has confirmed its acquisition of Coherent to the New York Times. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."


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