LG renews deal with Immersion on touch-feedback tech
Immersion's TouchSense "haptic" technology allows users to experience a sense of touch when playing games or typing on a flat touchscreen.
LG renewed its partnership with Immersion -- a company that provides touch-feedback technology -- reaching a multiyear, global licensing deal to provide Immersion's TouchSense software in the Korean tech giant's mobile devices.
Touch-feedback technology, also called "haptics," is built into devices to create tactile feedback or vibrations so a user feels something when touching the screen of a mobile device. For instance, someone could feel the sensation of clicking a button or moving an object around the screen when using the technology.
Samsung last year signed a multiyear licensing deal with Immersion for its haptics products, and LG already uses Immersion's haptics technology in some smartphones. Immersion on its website also lists Microsoft, Logitech, Sony and Volkswagen as licensees. Haptics could also gain more attention as Apple's new wearable, the Apple Watch, will use the technology to tap users on the wrist when an alert or notification reaches the device. Apple Watch was unveiled last week, but it isn't slated to go on sale until next year.
"This agreement speaks to the importance of tactile feedback in how consumers interact with their digital devices," Dennis Sheehan, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Immersion, said Tuesday.
Immersion also reaffirmed its 2014 financial guidance, expecting revenues to be in the range of $51 million to $56 million, an increase of between 7 percent and 18 percent over the prior year.