According to a new report, Apple has reportedly purchased the company PrimeSense for $345 million who are best known for their work with Microsoft and the Xbox Kinect.
Rumours of the acquisition surfaced earlier this year, but according to various news sources the deal is now firmly complete, and Apple plan to announce it in the next few weeks.
PrimeSense are the guys responsible for the technology, chips, and the design work that went into the first Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360. However, the company do also offer their own 3D sensors in which are used in other markets such as TV, mobile, and even robotics.
Reuters confirms the report:
“Apple has bought PrimeSense, an Israeli maker of chips that enable three-dimensional (3D) machine online casino vision, for $345 million (213 million pounds), the Calcalist financial newspaper reported on Sunday without citing sources.
PrimeSense has raised $85 million from Israeli and U.S. venture capital funds such as Canaan Partners Global, Gemini Israel and Genesis Partners, Calcalist said.”
This will no doubt spark rumours of the iTV which Apple has been rumoured to have been working on for over two years. It is said the iTV may have Kinect-like sensors to enable motion controls and gestures built-in, so acquiring a company that specialises in such technology is a no brainer.
Apple acquisition
PrimeSense have yet to confirm the acquisition either, but have issued the following statement:
“We are focused on building a prosperous company while bringing 3D sensing and natural interaction to the mass market in a variety of markets such as interactive living room and mobile devices,” a spokeswoman for PrimeSense said. “We do not comment on what any of our partners, customers or potential customers are doing and we do not relate to rumours or recycled rumours.”
It will be interesting to see that if this rumour is true and Apple have completed the acquisition, that if we”ll see technology that was present in the Kinect find its way into some future Apple products.