The competition between Apple and Google has always been intense and there appears to be no sign that things are going to slow down any time soon. In fact, it appears that things are going to pick up even more as it’s been announced that Apple has purchased Poly9, a Canadian company known for their cross-platform, cross-browser 3D globe technology.

As to why Apple would want this company, one can surmise that possibly Apple is looking to make their own version of Google Maps or Google Earth. The Poly9 technology is fully web based and requires no downloads. Considering that users will get 3D images of Earth as well as high resolution pictures for the larger US cities, this does sound a lot like services that are currently available through Google.

Via: Ubergizmo