Is Apple Prepping for a “Places” Product?

Apple has just applied for a new patent indicating the company’s possible interest in the location-based social networking space.
The gadgets giant applied to trademark the word “Places” in both Europe and China. The trademark application is, according to its numeric classifications, related to a wide range of hardware, online social networking, entertainment, media and GPS systems; it’s not related to photos or geotagging.
This particular patent application was first unearthed by Patenty Apple, which noted that the application may or may not have anything to do with Ping, Apple’s social music service linked to iTunes.
Given the plethora of location-aware Apple devices, it’s almost silly to think that Apple wouldn’t be working on products and features in the location space — which, as you’re probably aware, becomes hotter by the day, both in terms of startup innovation and user adoption.
Of course, not every Apple patent application ends up leading to a bona fide Apple product or feature; nevertheless, these documents can be telling when it comes to the company’s ambitions.
Here’s a look at the trademark application itself; let us know in the comments where you think this might be headed: