14 DAY TRIAL // “Apple buys small technology companies from time to time,” a spokeswoman told former WSJ editor Jessica Lessin responding to rumors of a new acquisition.
Several reports emerged this week saying Apple had bought Passif Semiconductor, a firm that develops low-power communication chips. The Cupertino giant would need its chips for the rumored iWatch, these reports said.
And now Apple seems to confirm these rumors, as one spokeswoman tells Jessica Lessin, “Apple buys small technology companies from time to time,” while responding to inquiries regarding the rumored acquisition.
The Mac maker doesn’t comment on rumors, but it does confirm these small-scale acquisitions from time to time, such as with PA Semi or Quatro Wireless years back.
Analysts are convinced that Apple’s upcoming iWatch (a product that has yet to be confirmed) needs the low-power Bluetooth LT chips designed by Passif. And it makes sense that it would.
The iWatch will be (by definition) as small as a regular watch. But it will house a mini computer with a lot of sensors, and it will have radios that communicate with Apple’s iOS devices, rumors say. For that, it will need to draw very little power from its tiny battery.
According to Lassin, who also seems to be in the loop with the iWatch developments, “[Passif’s] technology, which includes a radio that works with a low-energy version of Bluetooth called Bluetooth LE, is promising for health-monitoring and fitness devices that need extra-long battery life. (Apple, of course, is working on one of those.).”
The iWatch was expected this year, but Apple doesn’t seem ready to launch it just yet. For once, there aren’t any leaks in this department. Second, Apple is still staffing up in an effort to get the show on the road.
The Cupertino giant is known to launch its new hardware products only when they are fully ripe for the picking.