Apple has reportedly snagged yet another image technology company, or at least hired some of its core staff away.
Per Image Sensors World, two anonymous sources claimed that Apple may have acquired InVisage.
The blog highlighted that InVisage is no longer listed as a current investment in the portfolios of venture capital firms Nokia Growth Partners and InterWest Partners.
InVisage also removed a news page and a list of employee profiles from its website, compared to an archived version from February. Many companies acquired by Apple in the past have simplified or even removed their websites.
According to recently changed LinkedIn profiles, at least six Apple employees now apparently work at Apple, although only two joined Apple this year. One of the two joined Apple as a hardware engineer in July, the same month as the reported acquisition.
Interestingly, InVisage also filed to register a manufacturing subsidiary in California, though it later surrendered the request and the entity was legally dissolved in early October.
InVisage itself was founded in 2006 and was based out of Newark, California. The company has developer a new image sensor architecture with what’s known as a dedicated QuantumFilm layer that can maximize a smartphone camera’s light sensing capability.
The company’s website describes QuantumFilm pixels as having over three times higher dynamic range, allowing users to capture “supremely detailed images in almost any lighting condition where there is bright sky” and offers the following description of its product:
QuantumFilm is a photosensitive layer that relies on InVisage’s newly invented class of materials to absorb light; specifically, the new material is made up of quantum dots, nanoparticles that can be dispersed to form a grid once they are synthesized. Just like paint, this dispersion of solid materials can be coated onto a substrate and allowed to dry.
InVisage’s products, if the company were acquired, could be used to improve the iPhone and iPad’s camera technologies.
Apple has yet to reply to requests for comment regarding the potential acquisition.
Via MacRumors and Image Sensors World