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It seems that in July, Apple purchased Placebase, a company who created an eponymous online maps application. The advantages Placebase had over other services like Google Maps was its high level of customizability and the ability to overlay additional data sets like cell-phone coverage maps. Placebase.com is no longer online.

Seth Weintraub at Computer World has assembled some interesting facts, and it looks like Apple may be trying to move away from Google Maps. Weintraub theorizes that Apple isn’t so much interested in the huge amounts of customization that the API affords, but rather wants to build its own maps application.

The Google/Apple relationship has been strained of recent due to the rejection of Google’s own mapping application (Latitude), the FCC getting involved in the denial of the Google Voice app, and Google’s Eric Schmidt resigning from Apple’s Board of Directors. Given these events, we wouldn’t be surprised if Cupertino wanted a tad less drama by controlling its own map app.

*Update* It should be noted that Apple already has its own map software in its iPhoto desktop application. A feature called Places uses GPS data from photos to overlay the location they were taken on a map. Many cameras, including the iPhone, support this GPS feature. For the Places feature, Apple uses the maps from a third-party, TeleAtlas, as do most map and GPS navigation companies for their map software. The purchase of this company could be to add additional expertise and IP as the software world focuses on mobile apps. –Alan