Apple has reportedly bought the Israeli tech firm RealFace
On the heels of recent rumors that the upcoming iPhone will have a means of biometric authentication (other than fingerprint scanning) comes the news that Apple has acquired RealFace, an Israeli tech firm specializing in facial recognition.
The report comes from Israeli site Calcalist (via MacRumors) which claims Apple bought the Tel Aviv-based company for "several million dollars."
Some users may know RealFace from its app Pickeez, which automated the process of choosing the best photos from a bunch. At the time of writing, however, the app appears to be defunct, and RealFace's own website is offline as well.
The acquisition may turn into an app or a feature down the line, but it's unlikely to be significant for the upcoming iPhone this late in the game.
The iPhone 8 (its rumored name) is likely to be launched in the fall of this year, and reports claim it will have an all-new glassy design and wireless charging, among other features.
Apple has acquired or looked into acquiring a number of photo-related firms in the past; but one acquisition stands out as it's quite similar to RealFace. In Jan. 2016, Apple acquired Emotient, a startup which had AI-powered facial recognition tech that could read human emotions.
We've contacted Apple about the report but have not yet heard from them.
Topics Apple
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
