According to the recent report by 9to5 Mac, in order to augment the Maps feature in its iOS, Apple recently acquired C3 Technologies, a 3D mapping company.

C3 Technologies creates photo realistic 3D Maps of geographic features and cities, employing the same technology that the military uses to target the missiles, to form the maps.

The subsequent results are excellent.

Since the very beginning, Apple had to rely on its competitor, Google to provide the back end for iOS maps but now with C3 Technologies, it would be possible for Apple to handle mapping on its own.

The C3 not only allows Apple to easily access visually tantalizing maps, but also has the provisions to overlay information such as traffic, tweets, and Wikipedia entries.

However, users will have to wait for sometime to finally enjoy the C3’s 3D maps. We are expecting iOS 6, to be released next year, to have the features of C3 maps.