It does look like that Apple and the search giant Google are just starting to compete against each other more and more, and now rumor is out that Apple has purchased a Canadian company called Poly9, which has been renowned with creating lots of web-based mapping programs, most of those in Flash. The Canadian based company has produced numerous mapping software in the past, they have worked with a lot of major company including Redmond Based Microsoft, Yahoo, MSNBC, Apple, and many more. One of the most popular products is Poly9 Globe, that interactive mapping program allows us to spin a 3D-rendering of the Earth, while giving real-time statistics on our virtual location, including altitude.
According to French-Canadian news website cyberpresse.ca, Poly9 has been acquired by Apple, and a majority of the Poly9′s employees were shifted to California. In fact, the Canadian company’s official website is no longer available. Although, there is no official confirmation has been provided yet both from Poly9 and Apple.
If the rumor is true, the acquisition of Poly9 would be the 2nd mapping related acquisition for Apple. A year ago, it was announced that the company had acquired Placebase, a Google Maps rival. So, do you think this acquisition can create a new rival for Google Earth or Google Maps? We’ll know the result soon 
