Apple Acquires Proximity Corporation

After a settlement that put Apple in control of a "billion dollar patent" that can mean a lot for the company in the future, today another action that can have a great impact in the future was taken. "Apple Computer has acquired Proximity Corporation, a leading provider of creative media asset management and production workflow software for the broadcasting industry, a posting on the firm's website has confirmed", wrote AppleInsider yesterday.

Since Proximity announced a collaboration with Object Matrix in November, and the purpose of this partnership was to provide their customers with secure media management solutions, I can only say that things look good for Apple. Since the Hollywood's big companies ask Apple to enforce DRM protection of video content in order to obtain rights to publish their movies on iTunes, I am sure that this acquisition will help Apple a lot, but this is only my personal opinion, of course.

Proximity Corporation is a young company, founded back in 1997, "with a focus of developing and marketing advanced rich media asset management (RMAM) and workflow optimization software for the broadcast, creative-production, gaming and corporate industries.", said AppleInsider.

In the last years, Proximity's products became the industry standard for the management and storage of broadcast rich-media assets, having a client base of over 150 broadcasters that includes CNN, NBC, CBS, BBC and KBS. If this is not enough, I have to add that the New York-based company earned a Technology Emmy back in 2002 for its artbox workgroup and artbox enterprise products, and additional offices are maintained in London and Sydney.

All in all, this sounds like an excellent acquisition for Apple, and the time will tell how good prove to be Proximity's Corporation for the future of iPod's and Mac's creators.