The startups that grew Apple in 2013 - Upstart

The UpTake: Tim Cook's 2013 M&A extravaganza hint at product improvements and unveilings to come, but also show an Apple as interested in the innovation happening outside its walls as the secret stuff developing inside.

Tim Cook will ring in the new year with an arsenal of Apple acquisitions from 2013, including two purchases made in the days before Christmas, one that bolsters its once-chided mapping abilities.

It was so much activity—Cook announced 15 acquisitions in the 2013 fiscal year that ended September 29 and there have been at least a handful more since—that speculation abounds (and Cook has sort of confirmed) that something big is in the works for 2014.

It's also helped to appease investors upset a year ago over the company's stockpile of cash. Apple's share price has risen significantly since major drops in May and July. Today, the stock—listed on the Nasdaq as AAPL—closed at $564 a share, almost at its high point for the year.

So what were these moves and what do they say about Apple? Here are highlights from the device company's buying spree of 2013.

Mapping technology galore

Apple picked up at least five tech-focused companies involving mapping or transit. The thinking here is that they were acquired to to counter the negativity over Apple’s faulty maps release with iOS 6 in 2012. One of the recent acquisitions was BroadMap , which provides geographic information systems (GIS) for government agencies and businesses.

There's also the $20 million purchase of WiFiSLAM , which picks up where GPS leaves off, using Wi-Fi signals inside buildings to locate users. Locationary is a Canadian startup that merges information about local businesses with location data. It's likely to help Apple provide more detailed information about locations. Hopstop provides transit and walking directions and will likely equip the next generation of Apple software with those functions. And Embark is an app with detailed mass transit information in seven U.S. cities, with more to come.

Mapping plus productivity

The second recent acquisition straddles these two categories. Called Catch before the company was shuttered in August, it was a competitor to Evernote, allowing for personal note-taking attached to a location and date. It's likely that Catch's technology could help improve and make more personally relevant Apple's mapping function. But it might also be useful for improving Apple's Notes.

3-D sensors that detect human behavior

One of Apple's largest purchases of the year was a Tel Aviv company called PrimeSense that is credited with developing the sensor technology that powered Microsoft's Kinect. The reported $360 million acquisition brings Apple 3-D sensor technology that could be incorporated in a next-generation iPhone or the long anticipated Apple smartwatch or television set, helping devices sense human behavior and react to it.

Tools that help Siri do her job

Apple's $200 million purchase of the Twitter data mining and analytics company Topsy has many benefits, including helping make Siri more accurate and better competing with Google Now. Topsy mines Twitter for insights about a person or company, and may be able to feed Siri with better search results when inquired for help. Cue, a $40 million purchase in October, will also make Siri smarter. Cue acts as a personal assistant, notifying users of things to do and events coming up, based on its ability to mine social networks, email, calendars and push notifications.

Experts say Apple's year of acquisitions will help it make much larger product improvements in 2014, and perhaps help it introduce gadgets long rumored. But the buying spree could also hint of more to come. CB Insights recently listed Apple fourth on a list of companies with a lot of cash and securities ready for deal-making, and investors have made it clear they want more than dividends and repurchase plans.

They want real innovation, and this year's roster of buyouts show plenty of it is happening outside the walls of Apple.

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