Apple has reportedly acquired the maker of the Xbox Kinect motion-controller system, PrimeSense.
The Israeli company has been snapped up for an estimated $345 million (around £214 million), according to local financial newspaper Calcalist. It’s claimed that Apple has finalised the deal, and will announce it officially within the next two weeks.
It was from the same source that rumours of an Apple takeover emerged back in July.
In a separate report, AllThingsD claims that Apple is merely “in talks to buy 3-D sensing company PrimeSense,” and that the deal is not yet done.
PrimeSense makes chips that are capable of sensing three dimensional scenes. It is the technology that powered Microsoft’s first Xbox Kinect, the so-called hands-free games controller for Xbox 360 that tracks and responds to body movements.
However, Microsoft opted to build its own Kinect 2.0 device for the imminent Xbox One console.
Meanwhile, PrimeSense has moved on from the bulky stationary sensor technology in the original Kinect to produce Capri – a smaller version that would be suitable for mobile usage. Could we see the technology appearing in a future iPhone?
It’s also worth mentioning the continued rumours of a so-called iTV. Apple has long been expected to launch an assault on the living room entertainment space through its own revolutionary television set. Apple wants to remove the complexity of the standard TV remote, and motion control would certainly be one way to handle that.
PrimeSense has refused to comment on rumours of an Apple takeover, and has claimed to be focused on “bringing 3D sensing and Natural Interaction to the mass market in a variety of markets such as interactive living room and mobile devices.”
Next, read our Xbox One vs PS4 comparion.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
