Apple has purchased LuxVue Technology, a company that develops low-power microLED-based displays, reports TechCrunch, citing sources with knowledge of the acquisition. Micro-LEDs have the potential to improve battery life while offering brighter screens than competing technologies.
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Little is known about LuxVue, which appears to operate largely under the radar. The company appears to create LED displays that use little energy for use in various consumer electronic products. Back in December of 2013, LuxVue raised $25.2 million in funding for to pursue its micro-LED technology. The company has also filed several patents on micro-LEDs, and one of LuxVue's investors said the company had "a technical breakthrough in displays."
LuxVue's VP of technology, Kapil Sakariya, has ties to Apple, having previously worked as a Display Architect and iPhone Operations and Procurement Manager at Apple. Sakariya was employed at Apple from July of 2006 until November of 2011, when he joined LuxVue.
According to TechCrunch, Apple has made the acquisition to add to its hardware innovations area, which the company has been aiming to bolster in recent years to bring more of its production in-house. Last year, Apple acquired low-power wireless chip provider Passif Semiconductor and is said to be in talks to acquire Renesas SP Drivers, a division of Renesas Electronics that develops chips for smartphone displays.
Update: Apple has seemingly confirmed the purchase to TechCrunch, issuing its usual statement for such circumstances: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."
Top Rated Comments
Heart rate? REM cycle? Who cares?
Actually, I care. But I don't care about having a 128GB iPhone. Personally, I like the cloud concept and prefer to have my (and my family's) devices in sync.
My point being that you shouldn't dismiss something just because of your preferences.
Bigger screens that consume less power? Win.
Yes, but I think we are talking about significantly smaller screens. This would be potential iWatch tech. Doubtful it is for the iPhone.
I do not think production is the adequate word, since they outsourcer that most of the time. It's just research, they want more patents :p
They bought what was essentially a startup still going through its rounds of funding and progress towards a consumable product. Apple must have seen immense promise in the technology they had and wanted to buy it for two reasons. The first is that under Apple, this company would have essentially a limitless R&D budget and their top guys wouldn't be concerned with wooing investors anymore. Second is that it keeps the technology out of the hands of their competitors.The path forward would be for them to figure out how to produce it reliably and then contract a display company to make it for them.
Starting to think the iWatch will launch Spring 2015. As that portion of the year is currently empty of launches, if you go by the current release cycles.
What, then, is the "new category" of product that Tim promised this year? An Apple TV?
CloudPlay. A virtual iOS device operated on Apple's servers and accessed through a web browser or compatible device (internet enabled TV's for example). Think iCloud with its own app store and Apple's servers handling anything that can't be done natively through HTML5.
iTunes replaced with CloudPlay Offline, which allows your PC or Mac (or possibly even iOS and android devices) to act as a CloudPlay server on your local network.
Source: Pure speculation, but go to icloud.com and imagine if it had a music app, a photos app, and an app store to add more apps. Google put an OS in a browser, I think Apple will do it in a browser tab (as well as in a packaged program like iTunes). The Internet is the thing that's changed the least over time, has the greatest opportunity for innovation, and quite frankly, is the biggest area Apple needs to improve in. It complements all their products, and takes the high processing requirements away from low margin devices (like Apple TV), possibly even allowing Apple to enter new markets without ever creating a product for it. It makes sense, and would blindside everyone.