According to French-language newspaper Le Soleil, Apple has acquired Poly9, an online mapping company based in Quebec.
The translated article reports that since the acquisition, the majority of Poly9 employees have moved from Quebec to Apple’s offices in California. As Apple Insider notes, the Poly9 website is down, although parts of the Poly9 Globe site are still accessible.
The Poly9 Globe was described as “a cross-browser, cross-platform 3D globe which does not require any download.” Think of it as a JavaScript-based 3D globe that can be manipulated with your mouse to adjust its axis and rotation points. The software then offers users statistics on their virtual locations. Basically it’s Google Earth () in the browser.
)While the product is now listed as “discontinued,” you can see it in action from some its partners like Skype () and ConduitLive.
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