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The rumor on the street is that Google is looking to acquire face recognition company Viewdle. Unnamed sources told Forbes that the deal was sealed for anywhere between $30 and $45 million.
Google already have some face recognition tech of its own, but that obviously isn’t enough for the search giant. Perhaps future versions of Android will go beyond face unlock introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich, or perhaps (more likely), Google+ will get new features to stay relevant against Facebook. If I had to choose, I would go for the second answer though it’s likely the Mountain View company will use the new technology across different divisions.
Speaking of technology, Viewdle has been working on it for 10 years, first developing it at the Cybernetics Institute in Kiev, Ukraine as an ex-military university laboratory project. The company has offices in Ukraine and Palo Alto, as well as across Europe and South America. Its investors include KCP Capital, Anthem Venture Partners, Best Buy Capital, BlackBerry Partners Fund and Qualcomm.
UPDATE: The deal has been confirmed though terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
