Apple reportedly buys HopStop (updated)

Don't let it be said that Apple isn't working to improve its once-maligned mapping app. We're still in the rumor stages here, butBloomberg is reporting that Cupertino has managed to acquire popular navigation tool HopStop, to help improve its own simply-titled Maps. The deal comes hot on the heels of Apple's Locationary buy -- we wouldn't quite qualify it as a shopping spree yet, but it's certainly a start. No surprise, the sources for this one are anonymous, due to the non-public nature of the deal. That said, we'll still be reaching out for comment, because that's what we do. More info when we get it.

Update: Apple seems to have confirmed as much -- albeit in a fairly roundabout way, telling All Things D that it, "buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," a similarly cagey response to the one the company issued post-Locationary.

Engadget