“On Monday, Apple said it was buying PrimeSense, an Israel-based company that develops gesturing technology, for $350 million,” Therese Poletti writes for MarketWatch. “Apple, as it typically does whenever it makes an acquisition, declined to comment further on its plans for PrimeSense within Apple.”
“Paul Saffo, managing director of foresight at Discern Inc., said that instead of trying to figure out how Apple is using the technology, this news should be looked at with a bigger picture of where this technology is heading,” Poletti writes. “‘Devices are getting too small to fit a keyboard and they are becoming too much a part of our lives for us to stop and touch them,’ Saffo said. ‘We can either converse with them or gesture at them.’ he said. Gesturing, like voice, is going to become a ‘foundational technology,’ going forward, he said. ‘Gesture is the next mouse.’ While wearable computing is still in its early days, voice recognition has made broad advances and Apple’s Siri is used by many iPhone owners for Internet searching or to get directions.”
“Microsoft, too, has been touting the potential of gesturing and voice. One of its executives pointed to its Kinect technology in a presentation to investors on Monday at a UBS Global Technology Conference, as something that will differentiate the company from Apple,” Poletti writes. “The software giant, which is now developing its own technology for the Kinect, might regret that it did not buy PrimeSense itself, opening the door for rivals like Apple to step in.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
Kinecting the dots: Why Apple bought PrimeSense – November 26, 2013
Apple, late to the gesture game, tries to catch up with PrimeSense acquisition – November 25, 2013
Analyst: Apple’s PrimeSense acquisition sets stage for future Apple television products – November 25, 2013
For what will Apple use PrimeSense’s 3-D motion sensing tech? – November 25, 2013
Apple confirms acquisition of Israel’s PrimeSense, company behind Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect, for $350 million – November 25, 2013
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