Apple Acquires Israel's PrimeSense - Wall Street Journal

Nov. 24, 2013 11:59 p.m. ET

After months of chatter about a possible deal, Apple Inc. AAPL -0.26% Apple Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq ^$519.80 -1.34 -0.26% Nov. 22, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 7.12M AFTER HOURS ^$519.80 0.00 0.00% Nov. 22, 2013 7:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 874,265 P/E Ratio 13.02 Market Cap $467.68 Billion Dividend Yield 2.35% Rev. per Employee $2,127,850 11/25/13 Apple Acquires Israel's PrimeS... 11/24/13 Apple Acquires Israel's PrimeS... 11/21/13 Apple Awarded $290 Million fro... More quote details and news » acquired Israel's PrimeSense Ltd., a sign of the iPhone maker's interest in new interactive technologies for its devices.

Apple paid about $350 million for PrimeSense, a person familiar with the acquisition said. The Israeli startup's technology supports the Kinect motion-sensing feature in Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT +0.45% Microsoft Corp. U.S.: Nasdaq ^$37.57 +0.17 +0.45% Nov. 22, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 26.35M AFTER HOURS ^$37.55 -0.02 -0.05% Nov. 22, 2013 7:50 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 1.63M P/E Ratio 13.91 Market Cap $313.63 Billion Dividend Yield 2.98% Rev. per Employee $810,010 11/24/13 Videogames Become a Spectator ... 11/23/13 Microsoft's New Xbox One Sells... 11/22/13 Early Teardown of Xbox One Poi... More quote details and news » Xbox 360 game console.

An Apple spokeswoman confirmed the deal with the company's typical response after it completes an acquisition. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," she said without elaborating further.

PrimeSense's technology uses cameras and sensors to perceive the depth of objects in three-dimensional space. The cameras help to identify people and their movements and gestures. The technology can be used to create an alternative to a controller for videogames or a remote control for television sets.

The technology seems to offer potential for Apple's existing lineup of personal computers, iPhones and iPads as well as possible future products such as the long-rumored Apple TV set.

The investors in closely held PrimeSense, which is based in Tel Aviv, include Canaan Partners, Silver Lake, Gemini Israel Funds, and Genesis Partners Ltd.

Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist reported in July that PrimeSense and Apple were in talks and reported last week that the two sides had struck a deal for about $345 million.

Write to Daisuke Wakabayashi at Daisuke.Wakabayashi@wsj.com

via apple - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHIKFHkZG6cYKZ29dXVCWrjWpJDVw&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304281004579219002031600212.html