Apple reportedly plans on buying PrimeSense, the company behind the motion tracking sensor found in Microsoft's current-generation Kinect, though a timeline for when the deal could be completed remains unknown.
According to a report by Israeli news outlet Calcalist, Apple met with the Tel Aviv-based PrimeSense in "recent weeks" and will likely offer about $280 million for the company, which specializes in 3D tracking technology. Calcalist claims the negotiations are still in the early stages, though it reports that senior Apple officials have engaged in extensive examinations of PrimeSense technology to determine its suitability for future Apple products. Additionally, a delegation of senior Apple engineers reportedly visited Israel in early July to learn about PrimeSense's products.
Apple has long been rumored to be developing a television, though the company has been cagey about its exact plans for the living room device. In a December interview with NBC's Brian Williams, Apple CEO Tim Cook said television is an "area of intense interest" for the company. Cook implied Apple would only enter the market if it could make television watching feel more modern.
"I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years [when I watch TV]," the CEO told Williams.
Despite being responsible for a large portion of the motion-tracing technology in the current Kinect sensor, PrimeSense wasn't involved in the development of the Kinect sensor that will be bundled with Xbox One consoles. Instead of using a PrimeSense chip as with the current-generation Kinect, Microsoft developed its own hardware for the future sensor.
Source: Calcalist via The Next Web | Image via Microsoft
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