Will Apple’s new indoor location services acquisition lead to better maps?

The fate of an acquired startup is never certain, and that’s especially true at secretive Apple. This question hangs over its latest acquisition, a small Silicon Valley indoor location company called WifiSlam. Apple may have simply wanted its Stanford-educated founders, or — more likely — it wants to integrate WifiSlam’s technology into its mobile products and develop the technology further.

Instead of providing you driving directions to the airport, for example, what if Apple Maps could switch to walking directions and show you how to navigate to your gate, a place to eat, grab coffee, or pick up a book? And if it could show you those things, it seems feasible that you could also have the map display the location of Wi-Fi hotspots or charging stations at that airport.