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Apple Acquires Low-Power Wireless Chip Developer Passif Semiconductor

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple has purchased Silicon Valley-based wireless chip developer Passif Semiconductor, reports technology writer Jessica Lessin. The company, which Apple has reportedly been after for several years, specializes in low-power communication chips that could be used to improve battery life in wearable devices such as Apple's rumored iWatch.

bluetooth.jpg
Passif develops communication chips that use very little power. Its 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.)
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Apple has confirmed the acquisition, with Apple spokeswoman Amy Besette giving AllThingsD the following statement: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

According to rumors, battery life is one area where Apple has struggled in its iWatch development. A report in March suggested that the batteries in Apple's iWatch prototypes were only lasting a couple of days, with the company targeting at least 4-5 days of battery life.

After trademarking the iWatch name in a number of countries, Apple has been pouring its resources into the smart watch in recent months. The company hired a number of new employees to join the iWatch team, including health sensor experts, as the iWatch is said to focus on health related applications and biosensors.

Passif's low-power chip technologies could also be used in other Apple products going forward, improving battery life across the board. In addition to Passif, Apple has acquired a number of other small companies in recent months, including Locationary and HopStop.

Article Link: Apple Acquires Low-Power Wireless Chip Developer Passif Semiconductor
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/01/apple-acquires-low-power-wireless-chip-developer-passif-semiconductor/
As excited as I am for this new iProduct, I don't know if I could ever justify letting go of my ******, banged up, deteriorating, orange, plastic watch that I've had for half of my life.

aFUcSim.jpg
 
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Love to see a kinetic battery in the watch. That would motivate me to wear it and actually go to the gym.
 
Or to make the iwatch connect constantly to ios devices without draining the battery that will display the ios notifications on iwatch, or other cool stuff that I can't think of right now..
 
Apple should incorporate some small solar cells embedded in the strap to charge the iWatch's battery as much as possible. While solar may not provide 100% of the necessary energy for never having to plug in your iWatch, it could mean more time in between charges.

Heck, offer the straps in colors and make it a stronger MagSafe type of deal, and you've got a hot 1st party accessory.
 
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MacRumors said:
.....Passif develops communication chips that use very little power. Its 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.)

According to rumors, battery life is one area where Apple has struggled in its iWatch development. A report in March suggested that the batteries in Apple's iWatch prototypes were only lasting a couple of days, with the company targeting at least 4-5 days of battery life.

Article Link: Apple Acquires Low-Power Wireless Chip Developer Passif Semiconductor
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We've been hearing a lot about the rumored iWatch's health applications lately. I hope that is in addition to all those other zillions of things an iWatch could be useful for.
 
Fresh Pie said:
As excited as I am for this new iProduct, I don't know if I could ever justify letting go of my ******, banged up, deteriorating, orange, plastic watch that I've had for half of my life.

aFUcSim.jpg
Click to expand...

Simple, just wear the iWatch on your other wrist. ;)
 
This likely means no NFC in the iPhone 5S, or 6, or 7... Bluetooth 4.0 could be a more secure alternative if Apple can get it some traction in the market.
 
KPOM said:
This likely means no NFC in the iPhone 5S, or 6, or 7... Bluetooth 4.0 could be a more secure alternative if Apple can get it some traction in the market.
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no loss unless you want to use it to pay for something

i have a galaxy S3 and iphone 5 and the NFC is useless. takes like 5 minutes to transfer a photo
 
Am I the only one who has the 'who cares' mentality about this whole iWatch thing. I'm usually excited about anything Apple releases but could care less about this..
 
Looking forward to this 'iWatch' idea... what ever it may be. It'll be interesting to see how Apple tackles this wearable smart watch and how it interfaces with other 'i' products.
 
Maybe Apple will go with the Macbook Air strategy and introduce an iPhone with all-day battery life.
 
Ok....

Apple is in Borg mode.....:D....More ammo to more iToys to come......More stuff to beef up the enchilada....:D

But jokes aside, makes sense to Apple to control important sectors or components that are going into their hardware. Not only in the business sense, but in the technological and development sense. More control in vital components make the design making easier, IMHO....


:):apple:
 
Nice. Wondering how this pans out. Any extra juice they can squeeze into it would be great. I still won't be buying into it though.
 
I'll get slack for this, personally I'd prefer a hand crafted chronometer time piece with perpetual time and calendar over a digital watch. Many high end watches are investments (certain Rolex models are produced in limited quantity and retain their value for decades).

My iPhone/smartphone facilitates my current needs. May be short sighted, but I can't imagine I'd want all that crammed into a small watch unless it serves another purpose and/or utilizes a completely different UI (voice and movement control for example).

In wearable tech, I'm very interested in concepts of HUD's glasses which some companies are developing. Wearable tech might be the next "revolution." Watches being the first stepping stone. :)
 
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Klae17 said:
Love to see a kinetic battery in the watch. That would motivate me to wear it and actually go to the gym.
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This is actually a good idea! But the watch would/could deplete the battery when not at the gym.

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olowott said:
Cant wait to see what they gonna come up with .:D
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And every one in the tech industry is waiting as well to see how they can 'converge' on the design and idea.
 
Nothing bad in this article.
Hopefully they can hit that target battery life. Charging twice a month (like my Nike band) is great. Twice a day (like my 4S) is brutal. In between could work for a feature-rich watch.
 
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