“Apple Inc. agreed to acquire PrimeSense Ltd., the maker of motion-tracking chip technology that was used in Microsoft Corp.’s Kinect game console,” Serena Saitto and David Welch report for Bloomberg.
“Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple, confirmed the purchase yesterday in a telephone interview. Apple, maker of the iPhone and iPad, and Tel Aviv-based PrimeSense were negotiating a deal for about $350 million, one person familiar with the deal said last week,” Saitto and Welch report. “‘Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,’ Huguet said.”
“PrimeSense’s technology gives digital devices the ability to detect movements and objects, and then translates that into depth and color. Apple, the world’s largest technology company, hasn’t used much of its $146.8 billion in cash and investments for big acquisitions,” Saitto and Welch report. “PrimeSense investors include Canaan Partners, Silver Lake, Gemini Israel Funds and Genesis Partners. In addition to its use in gaming, PrimeSense has been developing new depth-sensing technology that allows for a 3D camera in a mobile phone to enable apps like indoor navigation tools or 3D shopping catalogs. PrimeSense also has said its technology can be used for measuring depth, allowing a person to take a photo of their living room into a furniture store to determine if a sofa would fit in the space.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Sarah” and “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Why is Apple buying the company that invented Microsoft’s Kinect? – November 18, 2013
Apple in talks to acquire PrimeSense – November 18, 2013
Apple in talks to buy Israel-based PrimeSense, company behind Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect, for $200 million – July 16, 2013
Apple’s latest patent is a game-changer for iPad – August 20, 2013
Apple partners with TV industry on ‘grand vision’ – July 18, 2013
Report: Apple could have obtained Kinect technology before Microsoft – November 5, 2010
And I confirm that Serena Saitto and David Welch confirm that Apple confirm that everything is confirmed.
All of this hand-waving is highly dubious to me (and was so for Steven Jobs).
I hope that Apple will come up with something really intricate about this technology; otherwise this purchase may mean Apple’s ideological weakness.
I really hope that being just another among twenty companies that think that waving hands before your TV is a way to go is not Apple’s way. So there is chance that Apple with upcoming PrimeSense technology will come up with something extraordinary; lets see.
Meanwhile in The HayBerry News on MSNBC BBRY corporate re-shuffling the Barnroom saddles. Gidi UP! Good Lord…. amateur hour indeed. That horse NEEDS to be put out of its misery.
Not only the horse dare I observe. Mad cow disease?
Couple this technology with 64 bit computing and I think there could be something extremely interesting from Apple in a year or two.
The Pippin 2. I just know it!
It will be used for the iZap. Apple will refine the motion tracking, add excellent face recognition and equip it with a small laser. Set in living room and any fly that buzzes in range get shot by the laser.
No more looking all over for the fly swatter.
No more chasing a fly all around the house.
Hours of entertainment.
(not responsible for blindness and/or sterility)
This is about way more than motion sensing and motion control, if Apple takes advantage of all the technology they have bought.
PrimeSense technology, together with Skanect software makes it possible, right now, to scan a room or an object in 3D. The sensor, and software costs less than $500, compared to other systems costing thousands There is a Kickstarter project right now that will use the tech to turn an iPad into a portable 3D scanner for a few hundred $. Companies are using this tech to scan people, objects, rooms – anything – to use for 3D printing, reverse engineering, virtual shopping (scan your living room and try new furniture in it) or (Scan your real store with real merchandise so people can shop virtually), custom prosthetic design (scan your foot and order custom insoles), imagine scanning your ear and ordering ear buds that would fit perfectly, the possibilities are incredible.
Imagine filming 3D spaces, and not being limited to viewing from a fixed camera position, but being able to move around in the sceen. You can do that now with this tech. Think what Apple can do by putting this tech in your iPhone.
Would be great if Apple came out with a 3D printer to go with the scanner.
I see this as a part that Apple is going to take to the living room. The iTV, if they make, is a long way off. Apple has the ATV now that is long over due to have an upgrade. I feel that they use their new 64 bit processor along with 802.11ac Wifi plus this technology they will have an alsome set top box. They are on the cusp of redefining living room entertainment like they did with the iPhone and iPad. They also need to open up the ATV to developers with a SDK to make apps.