FollowOn April 14, Apple confirmed it acquired LinX Computational Imaging, a company known for its camera technologies, for the price of $20 million.
The confirmation message was made by a spokesman who used the standard statement:
“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
LinX, an Israel-based company, is known for its miniature cameras used for various tablets and smartphones. The company was founded in 2011 having Ziv Attar and Andrey Tovchigrechko as co-founders and main shareholders. The two are more than veterans when it comes to this industry.
Mr. Attar was a senior optics specialist at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., a company specialized in defense systems and Mr. Tovchigrechko was the head of one of the algorithm developer teams at Samsung Electronics Co.
Although small, these tiny cameras are capable of amazing performances, beating competitors when it comes to low light situations, shutter lag, color fidelity etc.
Last year, the company also stated that their technology offers single-lens-reflex (SLR) picture quality without the need of a voluminous device.
On the company’s website, the manufacturers talk about the possibility of such features as automatic background removal, 3-D object modeling and face recognition.
On its site, LinX cameras are described as having “DSLR performance in slim handsets”. These products also use a technology that allows them to take multiple pictures at the same time. Furthermore, with the help of certain proprietary algorithms it can calculate depth and generate three-dimensional image maps.
Apple takes a long time until deciding whether to invest in certain companies or not. Acquiring LinX is a sign that the company plans to use its camera technology and implement it into its future products. This leads to the suspicion that future iPhones will come with even greater features.
This latest decision comes as no surprise considering the fact that Apple has been making important investments in order to improve iPhone image quality.
This is not the first time Apple closes a deal with an Israeli company. In 2011 it bought Anobit Technologies Ltd, a company specialized in flash-memory technology. In 2013, Apple acquired PrimeSense Ltd. which created the chip used to develop the first version of the 3D-sesing technology featured in the Xbox’s Kinect game controller.
Image Source: TechnoBuffalo
