Apple buys company behind Xbox Kinect technology: report

TORONTO – Technology giant Apple has reportedly purchased Israeli company PrimeSense, the company behind Xbox Kinect’s technology, for $345 million (US), according to a report from Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist.

Calcalist published a report Sunday that said a senior executive with PrimeSense had visited Apple’s engineering offices, fuelling rumours of a purchase in the works. The paper did not cite sources in its report.

In a statement to Global News, a PrimeSense spokesperson said, “We do not comment on what any of our partners, customers or potential customers are doing and we do not relate to rumors or re-cycled rumors.”

Rumours surrounding Apple’s acquisition of the company were first reported in July, though the price tag was only US$280 million.

“PrimeSense is the leading 3D technology in the market. 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,” read the company’s statement on the matter.

The Tel Aviv-based company makes 3D sensors that allow your devices to see scenes in 3D, allowing the user to control their devices with hand gestures.

Through technology called “depth sensing” the 3D-sensing technology can identify people – including their body properties, movements and gestures – differentiate objects such as furniture, and recognize the location of walls and floors.

The technology originally powered Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect, but Microsoft has since begun developing its own gesture technology.

If Apple is indeed acquiring PrimeSense, it could mean that Apple is working towards including gesture controls to its products, like Apple TV.

As Apple news website 9to5Mac pointed out, Apple has already filed patents revealing similar technology involving gesture-control operating systems.

9to5Mac reported in September that Apple was working on a new version of the Apple TV.

“We have been consistently hearing from our sources that Apple is thoroughly testing Xbox Kinect-like motion sensors for future TV-related products. When Apple plans to release motion-controlled TVs, however, is uncertain,” wrote 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman.

If Apple were to purchase PrimeSense it would be the company’s second acquisition of an Israeli-based startup. The tech giant bought flash-storage maker Anobit Technologies in 2012.

Israel has recently emerged as a big player in the tech startup market, with many high-profile companies such as Google investing in local talent. In June it was revealed that Google was buying online mapping service Waze in a US$1.03-billion deal; however, Israel’s antitrust authority opened a review into the sale in October.