It looks like Apple fans can expect the company’s voice and gesture control technology to kick into high gear in the coming years. According to a report from Israeli newspaper Calcalist, Apple has acquired Israel-based PrimeSense. The company bills itself as a “natural interaction solutions” provider, and it is best known for having created Microsoft’s Kinect sensor, which allows Xbox users to control their consoles with voice commands and to control gameplay simply by moving their bodies. Kinect, of course, become the fastest-selling consumer electronics device on record following its debut in 2010.
Calcalist reports that Apple spent about $345 million on the deal, which is a drop in the bucket for the massive Cupertino-based company. Beyond enhancements that could come to current Apple devices as a result of the deal, the obvious assumption is that Apple will use PrimeSense’s voice and gesture control technology to bolster its highly anticipated and much rumored reentry into the living room.
According to recent reports, Apple delayed the launch of its own-brand HDTV lineup, or”iTV,” until late 2015 at the earliest so that the company can focus on next year’s rumored “iWatch” release. That two-year window would also give Apple plenty of time to integrate PrimeSense’s technology into iTV ahead of the device’s debut.
