Apple buys Kinect company for £222m

If you think a new Xbox One is expensive, Apple has just forked out $360m (£222m) for a Kinect. That's how much Apple has paid to buy the company behind the sensor technology in the motion-detecting Kinect gaming add-on for the Microsoft Xbox 360.

AllThingsD reports that an Apple spokesperson confirmed the deal this weekend with the words "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

Israel-based company PrimeSense developed elements of the sensor technology that powers Kinect, which reads your body movements and translates it into movement in the game you're playing.

PrimeSense technology is also used under license by companies including Asus, iRobot and many more. Microsoft licensed the arm-waving technology from PrimeSense for its Kinect gaming system, but now makes its own motion-detecting technology for the Kinect system shipping with the new Xbox One, which went on sale on Friday.

What will Apple do with the Kinect tech? Probably the most likely use for motion detection is Apple TV, long-rumoured to be the target for a reinvention. Another alternative is some kind of hand-waving gesture control for the rumoured Apple iWatch smart watch.

Watch this: iWatch Rumours

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Is this a new direction for Apple? What Apple kit would you like to see kitted out with Kinect? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or wave at us on our Facebook page.