Qualcomm’s GestureTek Deal Signals New Possibilities for Qualcomm Atheros

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]), the San Diego wireless technologies giant, said today it has acquired certain assets related to gesture recognition technology from Sunnyvale, CA-based GestureTek—a move that points to new capabilities at its new Atheros unit.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. GestureTek, founded in 1986, specializes in machine vision technology that enables people to use hand and body motions to dynamically control computer-based information displayed on a screen or camera-enabled device. GestureTek says there is no need for users to wear, hold, or touch anything special for its proprietary technology to work.

In a statement, Qualcomm group president Steve Mollenkopf, says, “Applications processors are enabling a range of new ways for consumers to interface with their home entertainment and mobile devices. Our acquisition of key technology and assets from GestureTek will strengthen Qualcomm’s smartphone product portfolio and enable our customers to launch products with new and compelling user experiences.”

The acquisition appears tailor-made for Qualcomm Atheros, the business unit formed in May, after closing its acquisition of  San Jose, CA-based Wi-Fi chipmaker Atheros Communications for $3.1 billion. Qualcomm has explained the combined companies will advance development of products for “the connected home,” such as wireless technologies for displaying information from smartphones on high-definition TV screens and larger monitors.

Qualcomm says the GestureTek technology will be integrated into Qualcomm’s current and next-generation Snapdragon processors, providing possibilities for new types of user interfaces from Qualcomm customers making smartphones, tablets, and video game consoles. In the latter market, Qualcomm could be challenging established motion-recognition technologies developed for the Nintendo Wii, Playstation and Xbox360 video game console.

GestureTek has retained other assets to continue its its gesture-controlled public display and digital signage business. The company’s business has been focused on displays for kiosks, the healthcare industry, and consumer electronics.

Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.